Maharashtra minister loses agriculture portfolio after row over online game in Assembly, gets sports
A notification issued by the General Administration Department said that Dattatrey Bharne, who is the current sports minister, will be the new agriculture minister.
It added that Kokate will also be in charge of the minority development and Auqaf department.
The political row erupted on July 20 after a video of Kokate purportedly playing an online card game in the Assembly was shared on social media by Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) leader Rohit Pawar.
In a post on X, Rohit Pawar claimed that Kokate appeared to have 'time to play rummy' since the Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party faction could not take any decision without its ally the Bharatiya Janata Party.
He added: 'Therefore, when scores of farm issues are pending and every day eight farmers are ending their lives in Maharashtra, the agriculture minister does not seem to have any work.'
Kokate, a member of the Nationalist Congress Party group led by Ajit Pawar, represents the Sinnar constituency in Nashik. The faction is part of the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi coalition in the state, which includes the BJP and the Shiv Sena group led by Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.
Kokate had claimed that someone else had downloaded the game on his phone. He added that he was merely checking the proceedings of the other House on YouTube and the game popped up while skipping the advertisement during the video.
The minister also claimed that it was 'a solitaire game, not rummy'. Calling it a 'conspiracy', Kokate said that the full video should come out. 'The Opposition's tactics will never succeed,' he added.
The video, however, drew criticism from across party lines. Several politicians had demanded his resignation.
Earlier on Thursday, amid speculation about his continuation in the Cabinet, Kokate claimed that he neither offered to resign nor was he asked to step down by his party or Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, PTI reported.
'I do not want to speak on this issue anymore,' the news agency quoted him as telling a news channel in Pune. 'I will speak after the inquiry report [on the card game row] is out.'
Kokate said that he had met Ajit Pawar and discussed the matter. 'I had apologised to farmers recently during media interaction if their sentiments were hurt due to the card game controversy,' he added.
The minister had triggered another row earlier in July after allegedly describing the state government as a 'beggar' while speaking about crop loan insurance.
'The chief minister had expressed his displeasure over the 'beggars' statement,' Kokate said on Thursday. 'I called him up and clarified my stand. I blame it on the lack of articulation.'
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