After 'rummy row' in House, Maharashtra MLA Kokate loses agriculture ministry, gets sports

Maharashtra minister and NCP MLA Manikrao Kokate has been shifted from the agriculture ministry to the sports and youth welfare department in a late-night cabinet reshuffle.

Dattatrey Bharne, the current Sports Minister, will be the new Agriculture Minister, said a notification issued by the General Administration Department (GAD) on Thursday night.

Kokate will also be in charge of the minority development and Auqaf departments, it said.

Both Kokate and Bharne are MLAs of the Ajit Pawar-led NCP. Bharne is MLA from Indapur in Pune district.

Kokate, a legislator from Sinnar in Nashik district, found himself in hot water after a video of him playing an online rummy game on his mobile phone while sitting in the legislative council during the monsoon session was shared on social media by NCP (SP) leaders Rohit Pawar and Jitendra Awhad.

He also courted controversy for allegedly equating farmers with beggars a few months ago.

Earlier this year, Dhananjay Munde, another NCP leader, had to resign from the Devendra Fadnavis-led ministry after his close aide Walmik Karad was named as the prime accused in the Santosh Deshmukh murder case.