Manikrao Kokate (File photo)
NEW DELHI: Maharashtra Cabinet minister Manikrao Kokate on Thursday submitted his resignation to deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar, a day after he was divested of all his ministerial portfolios.Kokate lost all his portfolio after a Nashik court issued warrants for his and his brother Vijay’s arrest in a 1995 EWS housing quota cheating case. Kokate has been sentenced to two years of rigorous imprisonment for securing two flats in 1995 under the state’s 10 per cent economically weaker sections (EWS) quota by understating their income.Pawar said the ex-minister’s resignation has been accepted in principle and has been forwarded to chief minister Devendra Fadnavis for due consideration and acceptance.”In keeping with our party’s long-standing philosophy that the rule of law is supreme and above all individuals, the resignation has been accepted in principle. I have forwarded Shri Kokate’s resignation to the Hon’ble CM for due consideration and acceptance, in accordance with constitutional procedure,” Ajit Pawar wrote on X. Meanwhile, Maharashtra governor Acharya Devvrat has allotted the Sports and Youth Affairs, Minority Affairs, and Waqf ministries, previously held by Manikrao Kokate, to Ajit Pawar. The governor approved the letter sent by Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis in this regard yesterday.Kokate, who is the MLA from Sinnar, is the second NCP politician after Dhananjay Munde to have faced action since the Mahayuti alliance formed government in November 2024. Munde had to step down in March after the CM called for his resignation over allegations linking his associate Valmik Karad to the murder of Massajog sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh.While Nashik commissioner of police Sandeep Karnik said they had received a non-bailable warrant against Kokate and his brother, Bombay high court has posted the hearing of the minister’s application for relief on Friday. Kokate got admitted to Mumbai’s Leelavati Hospital on Wednesday.Earlier, a section of NCP functionaries demanded that Kokate should resign, and even the opposition said merely divesting him of portfolios was not enough, and he should be disqualified with immediate effect.The court of additional chief judicial magistrate Rupali C Narwadiya in Nashik rejected Kokate’s application citing medical grounds to seek four days to surrender and issued the arrest warrants.
