'If you want to save your image then…' — Uproar over Fadnavis' minister playing rummy in assembly; Sharad Pawar faction demands dismissal

Politics

A major controversy erupted after a minister from Devendra Fadnavis’ cabinet was caught playing rummy on his phone during an assembly session. The Sharad Pawar faction condemned the act as a mockery of democracy and demanded the minister’s immediate removal to uphold the dignity of the House.

There is a controversy over the video of Maharashtra Agriculture Minister Manikrao Kokate playing rummy in the assembly going viral. Nationalist Congress Party (NCP Sharad Pawar) Maharashtra unit chief Shashikant Shinde has demanded that Kokate should be removed from the Devendra Fadnavis government. Kokate is accused of playing rummy on a mobile phone during the monsoon session of the assembly.

A video of Agriculture Minister Manikrao Kokate playing rummy in the assembly in Maharashtra has gone viral, which has created a lot of ruckus. Politics is also being done regarding the matter. In this sequence, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP Sharad Pawar) Maharashtra unit chief Shashikant Shinde on Friday (July 25, 2025) said that Kokate should be removed from the Devendra Fadnavis government.

Kokate is accused of playing rummy on a mobile phone during the monsoon session of the assembly, although he has claimed that he was deleting the advertisement of that game to see something on the Internet.