Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis.
Credit: PTI Photo
Mumbai: A day after Manikrao Kokate was stripped off the agriculture portfolio, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Friday sent a clear message: ministers must maintain good conduct.
“We are here to serve people. People see how we speak, how we work and how we conduct ourselves. We must be in limits,” said Fadnavis after the reshuffle involving the NCP.
On Thursday night, Kokate, who was caught on camera playing rummy in the legislature and made statements like “farmers are beggars” and “government is beggar”, was stripped off the agriculture portfolio and given the sports and youth affairs ministry which was held by Dattatray Bharne.
Kokate not only came under fire from the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi but also the incident dented the Maha Yuti government’s image.
Kokate is a five-time MLA from Sinnar in Nashik district.
Bharne, a three-time legislator from Indapur seat in Pune, is considered a close aide of Pawar and in the 2024 Assembly elections, defeated Pawar’s arch political rival and NCP (SP) leader Harshwardhan Patil.
Fadnavis said that the swapping of ministers was done after consultations with deputy chief ministers Eknath Shinde, who is the Shiv Sena chief leader and Ajit Pawar, who is the NCP president.
“Born and raised in a farmer’s family, I have experienced every aspect of farming. Therefore, I deeply understand the pain, difficulties, and expectations of farmers. Now, through the responsibility of this ministerial position, I have been given the opportunity to work for their justice, rights, and progress.
"The honour of farmers, sustainable agriculture, and rural prosperity will be my primary goals. I will sincerely strive to ensure that the voice of farmers reaches every policy of the government,” Bharne said in his first reaction.
Incidentally, the treatment meted out to Kokate was not as harsh as the one NCP’s Dhananjay Munde faced when he had to resign as the state’s food, civil supplies and consumer protection minister.
In March, Munde was caught in the fallout of the sensational Santosh Deshmukh murder case and mushrooming extortion racket, in which his close aide Walmik Karad has been named as a mastermind.
Later, NCP leader Chhagan Bhujbal was inducted and allotted the ministry.
Munde is lobbying hard to return, however, the conditions do not seem favourable.
Fadnavis had announced setting up of an SIT probe into the murder of Mahadev Munde after meeting his wife Dnyaneshwari Munde.
It may be mentioned, Munde, a real estate contractor, was brutally killed by unidentified people who threw his body by the roadside in October 2023 - and local politicians are demanding detailed investigations and probe into the role of Karad, the Munde family aide.