'Rummy' row: Maharashtra NCP minister Manikrao Kokate loses agriculture portfolio; accused of playing online game in legislative council

NEW DELHI: Maharashtra NCP minister Manikrao Kokate , who was accused of playing "rummy" on his phone in legislative council, was removed from the post of state agricultural minister, PTI reported late Thursday.

The controversy erupted after MLA Rohit Pawar uploaded two videos on his X handle claiming the minister was playing online games during a House session.

The minister had dismissed the allegations saying, "I was in the Upper House and wanted to know what was going on in the Lower House. Therefore, I opened my mobile, but an advertisement for an online gaming app popped up. I tried to skip it a couple of times, but could not. Finally, on the third attempt, it got skipped. The MLA chose to show only the part that suited him instead of showing the complete video."

He further said that if the complete video had been shown, it would have been clear that he was attempting to skip an advertisement that appeared on his cellphone at that time. Kokate added he had no comments on why the MLA chose to post the video on social media. "He is perhaps entertaining himself. That's all I can say. I don't know what he wanted to convey with this message by displaying the video, which does not make sense. It is a completely irrelevant video, and I am sure the knowledgeable voters will understand that it is just an exercise to defame govt that is doing good work," he said.