Supriya Sule Demands Maharashtra Minister Manikrao Kokate's Resignation After Video Of Him Playing Rummy In Assembly Goes Viral
Maharashtra Agriculture Minister Manikrao Kokate has come under fire from Opposition leaders after a video of him playing Rummy, an online card game, inside the Legislative Assembly during House proceedings went viral on social media.
Responding to the viral video, NCP (SP) MP Supriya Sule slammed the minister for playing Rummy on his phone and demanded that Chief Minister Eknath Shinde remove him from the cabinet.
Speaking to the media after attending an all-party meeting ahead of Parliament's monsoon session in Delhi, Sule said, "A video of the Agriculture Minister of Maharashtra has emerged. When the House was in session and debates were underway, he was playing Rummy on his phone... 750 farmers have committed suicide in three months, and the Agriculture Minister of Maharashtra is playing games. He should resign for this disgraceful act; otherwise, the Chief Minister should remove him."
Earlier today, leader Rohit Pawar criticised the Agriculture Minister in a social media post, saying, "The NCP (led by Ajit Pawar) cannot do anything without consulting the BJP. And therefore, while scores of farm issues remain unresolved and eight farmers take their own lives every day in Maharashtra, the Agriculture Minister seems to have no work and spends his time playing Rummy."
"Will these misguided ministers and the government ever heed the desperate pleas of farmers demanding crop insurance, loan waivers, and price support? 'Kabhi garib kisaanon ki kheton par bhi aao naa maharaaj' (Come to the fields of poor farmers sometimes, Maharaj)?"
Minister Kokate belongs to the NCP faction led by Ajit Pawar and was elected to the Legislative Assembly from the Sinnar constituency.
BJP leader Sudhir Mungantiwar responded to the controversy, stating that while the minister would be warned, no law mandates action against him for such behaviour.
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