Rummy row: Maharashtra mantri loses agri portfolio, gets sports, minority departments | Mumbai News

MUMBAI: NCP chief and deputy CM Ajit Pawar finally acted against agriculture minister Manikrao Kokate after the rummy row. The state government on Thursday swapped Kokate’s agriculture department with sports and youth welfare, minority development, and Waqf. NCP minister Dattatray Bharne will now hold the agriculture portfolio. This is seen as a big demotion for Kokate, who, NCP functionaries said, managed to salvage his cabinet berth by apologising for the “incident” (of allegedly playing rummy in the state legislature) and assuring that such things would not happen again in a meeting with Ajit Pawar Tuesday.Kokate, who repeatedly courted controversy with his off-the-cuff statements, was let off by Ajit Pawar with a warning and censure. Govt sources said CM Devendra Fadnavis was keen to control the damage to his govt’s image due to Kokate’s statements and the rummy row and suggested to Ajit to take some action against Kokate. Eventually, Ajit Pawar decided that Kokate would have to let go of the important agriculture department since his rummy-playing video had a negative impact on farmers.“On Tuesday, Kokate wasn’t asked to resign, nor was his agriculture portfolio swapped for another department, but there was mounting pressure on the party for him to resign or at least that his agriculture department be taken away. CM Fadnavis was keen that action be taken against Kokate. So finally, a decision was made to change his departments and take away the crucial agriculture department from him,” a senior official said.