NCP minister Manikrao Kokate finally resigns over conviction after nudge from Fadnavis

Ajit Pawar announced Manikrao Kokate’s exit from the cabinet on X, asserting that NCP believed that public life must be guided by constitutional morality

MUMBAI: Maharashtra minister Manikrao Kokate, who was stripped of his portfolios following his conviction in a 1995 cheating and forgery case, on Thursday resigned from the council of ministers after chief minister Devendra Fadnavis put his foot down.

Maharashtra minister Manikrao Kokate finally sent across his resignation from the Devendra Fadnavis-led council of ministers on Thursday (Raju Shinde/HT File Photo)

Kokate, who is admitted to a Bandra hospital, sent his resignation to his boss, deputy chief minister and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Ajit Pawar, on Thursday after Fadnavis told Pawar at a meeting that Kokate could not continue in the state cabinet in view of his conviction and a warrant issued for his arrest by a Nashik court.

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Ajit Pawar announced Kokate’s exit from the cabinet on X soon after.

“Maharashtra Cabinet Minister and my party colleague Shri Manikrao Kokate has submitted his resignation to me following the outcome of the Hon’ble Court’s verdict. 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,” Pawar said in the post.

Pawar said the NCP had always believed that public life must be guided by constitutional morality, institutional integrity, and respect for the judiciary. “We stand firmly by the rule of law and will continue to act in a manner that upholds democratic values and public trust,” he added.

The state legislatureis also expected to begin the process to disqualify the Sinnar MLA.

HT GFX

Kokate and his brother Vijay Kokate were convicted for using forged documents to obtain two flats in a prime locality in Nashik under the chief minister’s quota for economically weaker sections in 1995.

The trial court had convicted the two brothers to two years’ imprisonment in February. On Tuesday, a session court in Nashik upheld the verdict. Kokate rushed to the Bombay High Court to seek relief, but the court on Wednesday declined to suspend the conviction.

A Nashik police team left for Mumbai on Thursday to execute the arrest warrant and is expected to reach the hospital late in the evening.

Kokate is the second NCP minister to be dropped from the Fadnavis cabinet this year. Munde was forced to step down in March due to his close aide’s alleged involvement in the brutal murder of a village sarpanch in Beed, which snowballed into a major political scandal.

On Wednesday, Fadnavis formally recommended to the governor that Kokate be divested of his portfolios after Ajit Pawar insisted that the government wait for