Daijiworld Media Network - Mumbai
Mumbai, Dec 18: Senior NCP leader and Maharashtra minister Manikrao Kokate was divested of all his ministerial portfolios on Wednesday, hours after a court in Nashik issued non-bailable arrest warrants against him and his brother Vijay in a 1995 Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) housing quota cheating case.
A day earlier, a sessions court in Nashik upheld a trial court verdict dated February 20, which convicted the Kokate brothers and sentenced them to two years of rigorous imprisonment for allegedly securing two flats under the state’s 10 per cent EWS quota in 1995 by misrepresenting their income.
Sources said Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis wrote to Governor Acharya Devvrat recommending that Kokate be divested of his portfolios — sports and youth welfare, and minority development and auqaf — and that these departments be handed over to NCP chief and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar. The Governor subsequently approved the recommendation.
Confirming the legal developments, Nashik Police Commissioner Sandeep Karnik said the police had received non-bailable arrest warrants against Kokate and his brother. Meanwhile, Kokate has approached the Bombay High Court seeking relief, with the court posting the hearing for Friday. Kokate was admitted to Mumbai’s Leelavati Hospital on Wednesday.
The developments came amid mounting pressure within the NCP, with a section of party functionaries from north Maharashtra demanding Kokate’s resignation. While the party leadership is yet to issue an official statement on his future, Opposition leaders said merely divesting him of portfolios was inadequate and called for his immediate disqualification.
Kokate, the MLA from Sinnar in Nashik district, is the second NCP leader to face action since the Mahayuti alliance formed the government in November last year. Earlier, senior leader Dhananjay Munde had stepped down in March following allegations linking his associate to the murder of a village sarpanch, after which Chhagan Bhujbal was inducted into the Cabinet.
The minister has been embroiled in controversies in recent months. He faced criticism for remarks against farmers demanding loan waivers and was earlier removed from the agriculture portfolio after a video surfaced allegedly showing him playing a game on his mobile phone during Legislative Council proceedings. Though Kokate denied the allegation, the agriculture portfolio was reassigned to Datta Bharane, and Kokate was given the sports department.
Earlier in the day, the court of Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Rupali C Narwadiya in Nashik rejected Kokate’s plea seeking time to surrender on medical grounds and issued arrest warrants. Subsequently, Kokate moved the Bombay High Court, with his counsel Aniket Nikam seeking an urgent hearing, arguing that without a stay on the conviction, Kokate could lose his ministerial position and face disqualification as a public representative. The High Court has scheduled the matter for Friday.
Meanwhile, NCP workers from several districts in north Maharashtra have urged the party leadership to replace Kokate with another leader from the region. Names doing the rounds include senior legislators Anil Bhaidas Patil from Amalner in Jalgaon district and Sangram Jagtap from Ahilyanagar city.
Party functionaries said the controversy had adversely impacted the NCP’s image ahead of upcoming municipal corporation elections. “The leadership must act firmly to send out a clear message that the party has zero tolerance for corruption,” an NCP district president from the region said.
North Maharashtra has five major civic bodies, and the NCP had earlier held power in the Ahilyanagar Municipal Corporation in alliance with the BJP after the 2018 polls. Party cadre maintained that Kokate’s replacement, if any, should also be from the region, reflecting local aspirations and organisational balance.