EMBATTLED Maharashtra Minister Manikrao Kokate was on Wednesday stripped off his portfolios following his conviction in a 1995 cheating and forgery case, with Governor Acharya Devvrat reassigning his ministries to Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar. Kokate, an NCP MLA from Sinnar constituency in Nashik district, was convicted and handed a two-year jail term by a Nashik court in the cheating and forgery case linked to a State Government housing scheme. In a letter addressed to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Governor Devvrat said, “I have received your letter dated December 17, 2025, recommending to allocate the portfolio of Sports and Youth Welfare, Minority Development and Aukaf held by Adv Manikrao Saraswati Shivaji Kokate to Shri Ajit Ashatai Anantrao Pawar, Deputy Chief Minister (Finance and Planning, State Excise.”

 

“I hereby convey my approval to your abovementioned recommendation,” the Governor added. With this, Kokate is now a minister without any portfolio. Meanwhile, Kokate has been admitted to Lilavati Hospital in suburban Bandra after complaining of chest pain and uneasiness, according to people familiar with the development. He is being treated in the intensive care unit (ICU) of the hospital, police said. After the Devendra Fadnavis-led Mahayuti Government was formed in December last year, Kokate was initially given the agriculture portfolio.

 

However, following a series of contentious remarks and incidents involving him, he (Contd from page 1) was given the Sports and Youth Welfare Department, considered comparatively less prominent, after receiving a warning from party chief Ajit Pawar, senior leaders earlier said. During the monsoon session of the Maharashtra legislature in Mumbai, a video of Kokate purportedly playing a game on his mobile phone while proceedings were underway had gone viral, drawing criticism from opposition members. HC to hear Mah Minister Kokate’s appeal against conviction on Dec 19: MAHARASHTRA Sports Minister and NCP leader Manikrao Kokate moved the Bombay High Court on Wednesday, challenging a sessions court order that upheld his conviction and two-year jail term in a 1995 cheating and forgery case.

 

The move comes as Kokate faces the imminent threat of losing his cabinet post and his Assembly seat. In mounting trouble for the Minister, a court in Nashik district on Wednesday issued an arrest warrant against him in the case. Kokate’s lawyer Aniket Nikam mentioned the plea before a single HC bench of Justice R N Laddha, for an urgent hearing, reasoning that the Minister was set to lose his job. While Nikam did not press for an urgent stay on the conviction on Wednesday, he submitted to the HC that Kokate was set to lose his ministry and that the Nashik sessions court, which upheld the conviction order of a magistrate’s court, had stayed the conviction. The High Court said it would consider Kokate’s plea for suspension of the conviction on Friday.

 

Kokate in his appeal said the sessions court had erred in upholding the magistrate court order and that it was liable to be quashed. The conviction ignited a political row, with the Opposition demanding Kokate’s immediate dismissal from the Mahayuti cabinet led by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. Mumbai Congress president Varsha Gaikwad accused the Government of shielding the minister, highlighting what she called a “different yardstick” for the ruling alliance. “Action is taken within 24 hours when Opposition leaders like Rahul Gandhi are convicted. Why is a different yardstick being applied here?” Gaikwad asked. She said Kokate’s continued presence in the Fadnavis-led Government only reflects the “arrogance of power”.

 

Earlier on Wednesday, Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar said he had not yet received a certified copy of the court order to determine Kokate’s status as an MLA. The convicted Minister was absent from the cabinet meeting chaired by Fadnavis earlier in the day. The complaint in the cheating and forgery case was lodged by former Maharashtra Minister, late T S Dighole.