1995 EWS cheating case: Maharashtra minister Manikrao Kokate loses his portfolios after arrest warrants; HC to hear his plea

NASHIK/MUMBAI: Senior NCP minister Manikrao Kokate was divested of all his ministerial portfolios on Wednesday, hours after a court in Nashik issued warrants for his and his brother Vijay's arrest in a 1995 EWS housing quota cheating case.

A day earlier, a sessions court in Nashik upheld the trial court's Feb 20 judgment convicting and sentencing the Kokate bothers to two years of rigorous imprisonment in the case of securing two flats in 1995 under the state's 10% EWS quota by showing less income.


Sources said CM Devendra Fadnavis wrote to governor Acharya Devvrat, recommending that Kokate be divested of the portfolios (sports and youth welfare and minority development and aukaf) and that the portfolios be handed over to NCP chief and deputy CM Ajit Pawar. Devvrat issued a letter approving the CM's recommendation, the sources said.

While Nashik commissioner of police Sandeep Karnik said they have received a non- bailable arrest warrant from the court against Kokate and his brother, the Bombay HC has posted the hearing of the minister's application for relief on Friday. Kokate was admitted to Mumbai's Leelavati Hospital.

These developments came on a day when a section of NCP functionaries in northern Maharashtra said Kokate should resign. While there has so far been no statement from NCP on Kokate's fate, the opposition said mere divesting him of the portfolios was not enough and that he should be disqualified immediately.

Kokate, the MLA from Nashik's Sinnar, is the second NCP politician, after Dhananjay Munde, to have faced action since the Mahayuti alliance formed govt in Nov last year. Munde had to step down on March 4 this year after the CM called for his resignation over allegations linking his associate, Valmik Karad, to the murder of Massajog sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh. NCP had then appointed Chhagan Bhujbal in Munde's place.

Kokate faced criticism for his comments against farmers seeking loan waiver earlier this year and was moved out of the agriculture ministry after a video surfaced purportedly showing him playing game on his cellphone in the Legislative Council amid proceedings. Though Kokate had denied playing game on his cellphone in the House, his portfolio (agriculture) was given to NCP's Datta Bharane. Kokate was entrusted with the sports portfolio.

Earlier in the day, the court of additional chief judicial magistrate (ACJM) Rupali C Narwadiya in Nashik rejected Kokate's application citing medical grounds to seek four days for surrender, and issued the arrest warrants. In a related development, Kokate approached the Bombay high court on Wednesday for relief. His lawyer, Aniket Nikam, mentioned the matter before the bench of Justice R N Laddha, seeking an urgent hearing on the grounds that unless a stay on the conviction is granted, the minister stands to lose his position and also would be disqualified as a public representative. The bench posted the matter for hearing on Friday.

A section of NCP workers from several districts in northern Maharashtra has urged the party leadership to replace the minister. They suggested that Kokate be replaced by one of the two senior NCP legislators from the region — Anil Bhaidas Patil (Amalner, Jalgaon) or Sangram Jagtap (Ahilyanagar city).

"The controversy has damaged the party's image in the region ahead of the municipal corporation elections. The leadership must act firmly against Kokate to convey a strong message to voters that the party has zero tolerance for corruption," an NCP district president from north Maharashtra said.

The region has five local civic bodies, and the party previously held power in the Ahilyanagar Municipal Corporation in alliance with BJP after the 2018 polls.

Party cadre argued that since Kokate belonged to north Maharashtra, his replacement should come from the same region. "Jagtap should be the natural choice if the party decides to replace Kokate. It has been our long pending demand. We had met our party chief, Ajit Pawar, requesting him to make Jagtap a minister," Ahilyanagar city NCP president Sampad Baraskar said.

Cadre from the Khandesh region, comprising Dhule, Jalgaon, and Nandurbar, insisted that Anil Bhaidas Patil deserved the ministerial berth. "Patil, the state NCP vice-president and party coordinator for Khandesh, previously served as a minister after Ajit Pawar's faction joined Mahayuti in 2023. He is the party's lone MLA in Khandesh," a party worker from Khandesh said.