{"id":26548,"date":"2025-12-18T03:17:40","date_gmt":"2025-12-18T03:17:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/2025\/12\/18\/maharashtra-sports-minister-manikrao-kokate-resigns-after-conviction-in-1995-case-politics-news\/"},"modified":"2025-12-18T03:17:40","modified_gmt":"2025-12-18T03:17:40","slug":"maharashtra-sports-minister-manikrao-kokate-resigns-after-conviction-in-1995-case-politics-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/2025\/12\/18\/maharashtra-sports-minister-manikrao-kokate-resigns-after-conviction-in-1995-case-politics-news\/","title":{"rendered":"Maharashtra Sports Minister Manikrao Kokate Resigns After Conviction In 1995 Case | Politics News"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"story-9777106\">\n<p><span class=\"jsx-395e0e0beb19cb6e jsx-3759419209\">Last Updated:<\/span><time class=\"jsx-395e0e0beb19cb6e jsx-3759419209\">December 18, 2025, 07:24 IST<\/time><\/p>\n<h2 id=\"asubttl-9777106\" class=\"jsx-ee90caf6118df965 jsx-696585780 asubttl-schema\">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.<\/h2>\n<div class=\"jsx-cc1b15cf85effb8b artsharwrp\"><a href=\"https:\/\/news18.co\/gnps-en-btn\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"jsx-91f4da8d48c13a79 gglebtn bgsky\"\/><\/p>\n<div id=\"artshare\" class=\"jsx-cc1b15cf85effb8b artshare\">\n<div class=\"jsx-cc1b15cf85effb8b stickdiv\">\n<div class=\"jsx-cc1b15cf85effb8b deskwrapstkdiv\">\n<div class=\"jsx-cc1b15cf85effb8b fontchange\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/images.news18.com\/dlxczavtqcctuei\/news18\/static\/images\/english\/font.svg\" height=\"30px\" width=\"30px\" alt=\"font\" title=\"font\" class=\"jsx-cc1b15cf85effb8b lazyload\"\/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"jsx-ee90caf6118df965 jsx-696585780\">\n<figure class=\"jsx-ee90caf6118df965 jsx-696585780 amimg\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Maharashtra Minister Manikrao Kokate resigned. (Image via X\/@kokate_manikrao)\" title=\"Maharashtra Minister Manikrao Kokate resigned. (Image via X\/@kokate_manikrao)\" src=\"https:\/\/images.news18.com\/ibnlive\/uploads\/2021\/07\/1627283897_news18_logo-1200x800.jpg?impolicy=website&amp;width=400&amp;height=225\" loading=\"eager\" fetchpriority=\"high\" class=\"jsx-ee90caf6118df965 jsx-696585780\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Maharashtra Minister Manikrao Kokate resigned. (Image via X\/@kokate_manikrao)<\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p id=\"0\" class=\"story_para_0\"><span class=\"cf0\">Maharashtra Sports Minister and NCP leader<\/span> Manikrao Kokate resigned on Wednesday following his conviction in a 1995 cheating and forgery case. Governor Acharya Devvrat <span class=\"cf0\">stripped off his portfolios following his conviction and <\/span><span class=\"cf0\">reassigned his ministries to Deputy Chief Minister <\/span><span class=\"cf0\">Ajit<\/span><span class=\"cf0\"> Pawar.<\/span><\/p>\n<p id=\"2\" class=\"story_para_2\">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.<\/p>\n<p id=\"3\" class=\"story_para_3\">In a letter addressed to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Governor Devvrat said, \u201cI 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.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p id=\"4\" class=\"story_para_4\">\u201cI hereby convey my approval to your abovementioned recommendation,&#8221; the governor added.<\/p>\n<p id=\"5\" class=\"story_para_5\">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 was handed over the Sports and Youth Welfare Department, considered comparatively less prominent, after receiving a warning from party chief Ajit Pawar, senior leaders earlier said.<\/p>\n<p id=\"6\" class=\"story_para_6\">In fact, a controversy erupted when, 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 went viral, drawing criticism from opposition members.<\/p>\n<p id=\"7\" class=\"story_para_7\">On Tuesday, the Nashik district and sessions court upheld the order of a first-class judicial magistrate, confirming a sentence of two years\u2019 imprisonment and a fine of Rs 50,000 against Kokate for cheating and forgery. The court also issued an arrest warrant against him on Wednesday after dismissing his appeal against the earlier verdict.<\/p>\n<p id=\"8\" class=\"story_para_8\"><em>(With agency inputs)<\/em><\/p>\n<div class=\"jsx-ff4fe2ed9527ebb3 midgprfd\">\n<div class=\"jsx-ff4fe2ed9527ebb3 midgprfdbtn\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/images.news18.com\/dlxczavtqcctuei\/news18\/static\/images\/english\/google-color.svg\" width=\"36\" height=\"36\" alt=\"\" class=\"jsx-ff4fe2ed9527ebb3\"\/><span class=\"jsx-ff4fe2ed9527ebb3\">Click here to add News18 as your preferred news source on Google. <\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"jsx-ee90caf6118df965 jsx-696585780 atbtlink Location\"><span>Location :<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Maharashtra, India, India<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"jsx-ee90caf6118df965 jsx-696585780 atbtlink fp\"><span>First Published:<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"rs\">\n<p>December 18, 2025, 07:13 IST<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"jsx-ee90caf6118df965 jsx-696585780 brdcrmb\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.news18.com\/\">News<\/a>  <a href=\"https:\/\/www.news18.com\/politics\/\">politics<\/a>  <span class=\"brdout\"> Maharashtra Sports Minister Manikrao Kokate Resigns After Conviction In 1995 Case<\/span><\/div>\n<div id=\"coral-wrap\" class=\"jsx-ba4d8f086a12294f \">\n<div class=\"jsx-ba4d8f086a12294f coral-cont\">\n<div class=\"jsx-ba4d8f086a12294f coltoptxt\">Disclaimer: Comments reflect users\u2019 views, not News18\u2019s. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.news18.com\/disclaimer\/\" class=\"jsx-ba4d8f086a12294f\">Terms of Use<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.news18.com\/privacy_policy\/\" class=\"jsx-ba4d8f086a12294f\">Privacy Policy<\/a>.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><span class=\"jsx-ee90caf6118df965 jsx-696585780 rmbtn news18_read_more\">Read More<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.news18.com\/politics\/maharashtra-sports-minister-manikrao-kokate-resigns-after-conviction-in-1995-case-9777106.html\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Last Updated:December 18, 2025, 07:24 IST 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. Maharashtra Minister Manikrao Kokate resigned. (Image via X\/@kokate_manikrao) Maharashtra Sports Minister and NCP leader Manikrao Kokate resigned on Wednesday following his&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":649,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[48],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26548","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26548","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26548"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26548\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/649"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26548"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26548"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26548"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}