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Nationalist Congress Party (Sharad Pawar faction) leader Prashant Sudamrao Jagtap on Sunday slammed Maharashtra's Agriculture Minister, Manikrao Kokate, after a purported video of him playing an online card game on his phone in the Legislative Assembly went viral. Jagtap termed the alleged act "an insult to the farmers."
The video was shared on social media by Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Rohit Pawar. "Ever since Manikrao Kokate became the Agriculture Minister in Devendra Fadnavis' government, he has been making fun of Maharashtra's farmers," Jagtap told ANI. "In the same session in which it was being discussed that farmers are committing suicide every day in Maharashtra, he was seen playing online rummy. This is an insult to the farmers," he added. Earlier in the day, Nationalist Congress Party (SP) MP Supriya Sule demanded the resignation of Kokate. Sule criticised the minister, pointing out that while 750 farmers had committed suicide in the past three months, the minister is engaged in playing games. She urged the Chief Minister to take action and remove him from his position if he does not resign. Speaking to the reporters, Supriya Sule said, "A video of the Agriculture Minister of Maharashtra has come out. When the House was in session and the debate was underway, he was playing rummy on his mobile...750 farmers have committed suicide in three months and the Agriculture Minister of Maharashtra is playing these games. He should resign for this dirty act; otherwise, the Chief Minister should remove him." Sharing the video, Rohit Pawar criticised the minister for his lack of attention to the state's pressing agricultural issues. In a post on X, Rohit Pawar wrote, "Since the Nationalist faction in power cannot do anything without consulting the BJP, even with countless agricultural issues pending and 8 farmers committing suicide daily in the state, the Agriculture Minister, with nothing else to do, seems to have time to play rummy." He also urged the government to listen to farmers' demands for crop insurance, loan waivers, and price support, and also asked, 'Will these ministers ever hear the desperate plea of farmers?' "Will these misguided ministers and the government ever hear the desperate plea of farmers demanding crop insurance, loan waivers, and price support: "Come to the fields of poor farmers sometimes, Maharaj"?," the post reads. (ANI)
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