Agriculture minister Manikrao Kokate sentenced to two years’ jail

Maharashtra minister Manikrao Kokate sentenced to 2 years for fraudulently acquiring a government flat; opposition demands his resignation.

MUMBAI: In a jolt to the Mahayuti government and the NCP led by deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar, a Nashik district court on Thursday sentenced Maharashtra agriculture minister and NCP leader Manikrao Kokate and his brother Vijay Kokate to two years of imprisonment for acquiring a government-quota flat by submitting fake documents. Although Kokate succeeded in getting bail within hours, there will be uncertainty about his position as a minister and MLA till he gets a stay order on the sentence from a higher court. The opposition has demanded that he resign immediately.

Agriculture minister Manikrao Kokate sentenced to two years’ jail

The NCP and Mahayuti government are already facing trouble on account of another NCP minister—Dhananjay Munde, whose close aide Walmik Karad has been arrested in connection with the brutal torture and murder of Beed sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh who stood up to an extortion bid at a windmill company in the area. Munde is alleged to be involved in scams in government schemes as well. Now with Kokate, a five-time MLA from the Sinnar assembly constituency, being convicted, the NCP will face more heat from the opposition benches in the upcoming legislature budget session.

The case in which Kokate was convicted had to do with a state government scheme to provide subsidised flats to people from low-income groups. Apart from economic backwardness, one of the eligibility conditions in the scheme was that beneficiaries should not own a house in certain urban areas.

According to the details of the case filed by the district authorities in 1995, Kokate and his brother got flats for themselves under the government quota in Canada Corner, Nashik, by submitting fake documents on both counts. The case was filed after a complaint by the then MLA of Sinnar and Shiv Sena minister Tukaram Dighole. The trial went on for over two decades, and on Thursday, the Nashik district court held the Kokate brothers guilty and sentenced them for two years of jail and a fine of ₹50,000. Government prosecutor Poonam Ghodke argued in the court on behalf of the government.

Although Kokate was granted bail immediately by the court, there is uncertainty about his future. The provisions of The Representation Of The People Act, 1951, mandate that a person cannot continue as an MLA or MP or any other public representative position if he is sentenced to a prison term of two or more years. In 2023, Congress MLA Sunil Kedar was disqualified by the Maharashtra state legislature secretariat within 24 hours after he was convicted by a Nagpur court of financial irregularities in a district co-operative bank.

Kokate said he would challenge the Nashik district court’s order in the Bombay high court and ask for a stay on his conviction. Till such time as the court hears the case, Kokate can continue in the assembly if the speaker, the BJP’s Rahul Narwekar, does not disqualify him.

The NCP politician, while responding to his conviction, said that the case was filed against him three decades ago out of “political rivalry”. “The then MLA of Sinnar, Tukaram Dighole, was a political rival and filed a complaint against me because of that,” he said.

Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) leaders demanded Kokate’s resignation on moral grounds. Congress leader Vijay Wadettiwar asked for his immediate removal from the cabinet. “Kokate recently compared farmers to beggars,” he said. “Now he has been sentenced to two years of jail. Every day, one or the other minister is embarrassing the Mahayuti government. Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis should get him to resign without delay.” Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sushma Andhare also demanded Kokate’s immediate resignation.

Newly appointed state Congress president Harshwardhan Sapkal called for the prompt removal of both Kokate and Dhananjay Munde. “Agriculture minister Manikrao Kokate has been convicted for submitting fake documents to get a government house,” he said. “Former agriculture minister Dhananjay Munde was involved in many scams in the agriculture department. The BJP-led government has become a gang of corrupt ministers.