Clarifications land Kokate in trouble

MUMBAI: Facing flak over the viral video in which he was seen playing online games on his phone while in the legislative council, agriculture minister Manikrao Kokate remained defiant at a press conference on Tuesday and demanded a probe into the accusation.

- Faisal Mali

However, his clarifications only served to kick up a further row, with chief minister Devendra Fadnavis snubbing him for the second consecutive day and the BJP advising him to desist from giving any more explanations. To add to his woes, NCP (SP) MLA Rohit Pawar released two more video clips to prove that the card game visible on Kokate’s phone was not an advertisement as he had claimed.

At the press conference held in Nashik to clarify his position, Kokate reiterated that it was an advertisement that popped up on his mobile screen, and it took him some time to skip because the handset was new. While doing so, he sought a probe into the matter, saying he had never played rummy in his entire life.