Maha min, who 'played rummy', now says 'govt is a beggar'

NASHIK: Maharashtra's agriculture minister Manikrao Kokate, who 'played rummy', ignited a fresh controversy as he referred to govt as a "beggar" while explaining a previous remark, in Nashik on Tuesday.

Kokate, who represents Nashik's Sinnar assembly constituency, was interacting with media persons, and was questioned about his previous remarks suggesting that even beggars do not accept Re 1 in alms now while govt provides crop insurance for that amount. He clarified, "Govt doesn't give Re 1 to the farmers, it takes Re 1 from them for crop insurance. So who is the beggar here? Govt is a beggar, and not the farmer. My statement was misconstrued then by the people." Govt has now replaced the Re 1 crop insurance scheme with Prime Minister Crop Insurance Scheme.

Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis called Kokate's comments "inappropriate". Speaking in Gadchiroli, he said, "We have taken corrective measures in the crop insurance scheme as we saw insurance companies benefitting and not farmers. We have taken steps to invest Rs 5,000 crore every year in the agriculture sector."

NCP-SCP MP and party's working president Supriya Sule, too, condemned Kokate's remarks in a post on X. "It took the supreme sacrifice by 105 martyrs in the struggle for United Maharashtra and immense contribution by previous CMs and the people to make Maharashtra the most prosperous state in the country. Calling the state a 'beggar' is a disaster and an insult to them," she said.

"There has never been an agriculture minister who behaved so insensitively towards farmers when there are so many burning issues. The portfolio should be handled by someone sensitive towards agriculture and farmers," Sule added.