NASHIK: Maharashtra Agriculture Minister Manikrao Kokate claimed on Tuesday that he never played rummy on his mobile phone as alleged by opposition parties and rejected demands to step down, stressing that a trivial issue was blown out of proportion.The Nationalist Congress Party leader warned of legal action against politicians who “defamed” him by sharing his video.A political storm erupted on Sunday after NCP (SP) MLA Rohit Pawar posted a video clip of Kokate purportedly playing rummy on his mobile phone during the monsoon session of the state legislature.On Monday, Pawar’s colleague Jitendra Awhad posted two videos, claiming Kokate was playing ‘Junglee rummy’ on his mobile phone during the monsoon session.Amid the growing clamour for Kokate’s resignation, NCP state president Sunil Tatkare on Monday said the party head and Deputy CM Ajit Pawar will take a serious note of the video and talk to the minister accordingly.”I don’t know how to play online rummy. One needs an OTP, and a bank account needs to be linked to play the game. One can check if my mobile phone is linked to any such game. I was trying to skip a game which popped up on my screen for 10 to 15 seconds,” Kokate told a press conference here.Asked about demands for his resignation, the minister retorted, “Tell me what has happened for which the resignation has been demanded. Have I molested someone? Have I stolen something or decided against farmers? Do I have a criminal background?”
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