Rohit Pawar alleges Maharashtra minister was playing rummy in assembly, minister responds

Screengrab from the video

Nationalist Congress Party (Sharad Pawar faction) MLA Rohit Pawar on Sunday triggered a political storm in Maharashtra after he shared a video on X alleging that Maharashtra Agriculture Minister Manikrao Kokate was playing a mobile game—reportedly 'Rummy'—during the assembly session.

The video footage shared by Rohit Pawar allegedly shows Kokate using his phone while important discussions on agricultural issues and farmer suicides were underway. Rohit Pawar criticised the minister, calling him “misguided,” and questioned the government’s seriousness on issues affecting farmers.

“With 8 farmers dying by suicide daily, the Agriculture Minister seems to have nothing better to do than play games,” Pawar said, further urging ministers to visit farms and listen to the ground realities.

“Since the Nationalist faction in power cannot do anything without consulting the BJP, even with countless agricultural issues pending and 8 farmers committing suicide daily in the state, the Agriculture Minister, with nothing else to do, seems to hav e time to play rummy," the MLA tweeted in Marathi.

“#जंगली_रमी_पे_आओ_ना_महाराज…!”

सत्तेतल्या राष्ट्रवादी गटाला भाजपला विचारल्याशिवाय काहीच करता येत नाही म्हणूनच शेतीचे असंख्य प्रश्न प्रलंबित असताना, राज्यात रोज ८ शेतकरी आत्महत्या करत असताना सुद्धा काही कामच नसल्याने कृषिमंत्र्यांवर रमी खेळण्याची वेळ येत असावी. रस्ता भरकटलेल्या… pic.twitter.com/52jz7eTAtq — Rohit Pawar (@RRPSpeaks) July 20, 2025

Further, the MLA suggested Kokate to visit the fields of poor farmers.

“Will these misguided ministers and the government ever hear the desperate plea of farmers demanding crop insurance, loan waivers, and price support: ‘Come to the fields of poor farmers sometimes, Maharaj’?," he further wrote.

The video has triggered strong criticism from the opposition, accusing the ruling government of neglecting critical agricultural concerns.

VIDEO | Here's what Maharashtra Agriculture Minister Manikrao Kokate said on allegations of playing a game during the assembly session. "It is a solitaire game, not Rummy. Any of my colleagues must have downloaded it. I was trying to see what was happening in the lower house. I… pic.twitter.com/Prfu4OgzOA — Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) July 20, 2025

Meanwhile, Maharashtra Agriculture Minister Manikrao Kokate said on allegations of playing a game during the assembly session."Rohit Pawar has become addicted to playing rummy. It wasn't rummy, but solitaire on my phone. Some PA or OSD must have downloaded that game on my phone... I had opened YouTube to see what was going on in the lower house. How does he know what rummy is? I don't know what rummy is. He must play it a lot, so he thought I was playing it too. It was a solitaire game.10 different types of ads come up on YouTube.You have to watch it for 30 seconds and you can't even skip it."