Mumbai, Jul 29 (PTI) Amid speculation about his continuation in the Maharashtra cabinet, agriculture minister Manikrao Kokate on Tuesday met Deputy CM and NCP head Ajit Pawar, who is believed to have ticked him off over repeated controversies caused by his remarks but didn’t assure support, sources claimed.
Kokate expressed regret after Pawar expressed his displeasure over the minister’s gaffes concerning the farming community that put the Mahayuti government and the Nationalist Congress Party on the back foot.
Sources said Kokate, accompanied by his daughter, arrived at Mantralaya in the morning and went straight to Pawar’s antechamber ahead of the cabinet meeting.
According to sources, the 15-minute-long meeting was tense, with Pawar reportedly expressing strong displeasure over Kokate’s repeated missteps.
Sources also said Kokate has expressed regret over his recent actions and assured Pawar that such incidents would not recur.
Pawar, however, did not offer any assurances of support, they said.
Kokate avoided speaking to reporters after the meeting and proceeded directly to the cabinet meeting, further fuelling speculation that a decision on his position may be imminent.
Meanwhile, a delegation of farmers from Nashik met Pawar earlier in the day, requesting that Kokate be retained in the state cabinet.
Pawar retorted by asking, “How many times should one be forgiven?” He also said that when he had voluntarily stepped down from ministerial duties in the past, no one had come forward in his defence.
Kokate, the NCP MLA from Sinnar in Nashik district, is no stranger to controversies.
He had alleged that farmers misuse their subsidies, called them beggars and described his ministerial portfolio as “lord of barren acres”.
The latest controversy stemmed from a video purportedly showing Kokate playing a card game on his mobile phone in the state legislature during the monsoon session.
While the row had not died down, he triggered another controversy by dubbing the government a “beggar” while trying to clarify his past comments on farmers. PTI ND ARU NSK
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