‘It was solitaire, not rummy': Maharashtra minister Manikrao Kokate clarifies on viral video

Mint

5 days ago

Facing criticism over a video showing him playing "rummy" on his phone during an assembly session, Maharashtra Agriculture Minister Manikrao Kokate said on Sunday that it was a "solitaire game" and that he was only trying to skip a downloaded game on his mobile phone.
Kokate's statement came after he courted controversy over a purported video showing him playing a game during a session in the Legislative Assembly. Maharashtra MLA Rohit Pawar shared a video on X, claiming that Kokate playing "rummy" during the assembly session.
Kokate was checking his phone when the Upper House of the state legislature was adjourned, PTI reported. He said the game had popped up for 5 to 10 seconds while he was checking YouTube to understand the business transacted in the lower house during the recently concluded monsoon session.
"It is a solitaire game, not Rummy. Any of my colleagues must have downloaded it. I was trying to see what was happening in the lower house. I was not playing Rummy. The Opposition is trying to demean the government," Kokate said.
"I don't even know what rummy is," he said. "Ten different types of ads come up on YouTube... You have to watch it for 30 seconds and you can't even skip it...," he said.
Maharashtra Agriculture Minister Manikrao Kokate also claimed that selective footage had been shared on social media to defame him.
"When the upper house of the state legislature was adjourned, I took out my mobile phone to check the business transacted in the lower house and was trying to open YouTube," he was quoted by news agency PTI as saying.
"The downloaded game suddenly opened, and I was skipping it. It was a matter of just 5 to 10 seconds; why that part was not shown?" he said while responding to the criticism he was facing over the video.
"The full video should come out. Only a short clip has been made viral. This is a ploy by the opposition, but their tactics will never succeed," Kokate was quoted by India Today as saying.
Kokate also hit out at NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) leader and MLA Rohit Pawar, who first shared the purported video on X. "Rohit Pawar has become addicted to playing rummy. It wasn't rummy, but solitaire on my phone," he said.
Sharing the video on X, Rohit Pawar criticised the minister for his lack of attention to the state's pressing agricultural issues.
Rohit Pawar wrote, 'Since the Nationalist faction in power cannot do anything without consulting the BJP, even with countless agricultural issues pending and 8 farmers committing suicide daily in the state, the Agriculture Minister, with nothing else to do, seems to have time to play rummy.'
He also urged the government to listen to farmers' demands for crop insurance, loan waivers, and price support, and also asked, 'Will these ministers ever hear the desperate plea of farmers?'
"Will these misguided ministers and the government ever hear the desperate plea of farmers demanding crop insurance, loan waivers, and price support: "Come to the fields of poor farmers sometimes, Maharaj"?," the post reads.
Nationalist Congress Party (Sharad Pawar faction) leader Prashant Sudamrao Jagtap on Sunday slammed Manikrao Kokate, terming the his conduct in Assembly "an insult to the farmers."
"Ever since Manikrao Kokate became the Agriculture Minister in Devendra Fadnavis' government, he has been making fun of Maharashtra's farmers," Jagtap told ANI.
"In the same session in which it was being discussed that farmers are committing suicide every day in Maharashtra, he was seen playing online rummy. This is an insult to the farmers," he added.
Nationalist Congress Party (SP) MP Supriya Sule also demanded the resignation of Kokate. She criticised the minister, pointing out that while 750 farmers had committed suicide in the past three months, the minister is engaged in playing games.
She urged the Chief Minister to take action and remove him from his position if he does not resign.
Supriya Sule said, "A video of the Agriculture Minister of Maharashtra has come out. When the House was in session and the debate was underway, he was playing rummy on his mobile...750 farmers have committed suicide in three months and the Agriculture Minister of Maharashtra is playing these games. He should resign for this dirty act; otherwise, the Chief Minister should remove him."