Manikrao Kokate

Some Lesser Known Facts About Manikrao Kokate

• Manikrao Kokate grew up in Somthana village, Sinnar, in Nashik, Maharashtra.

• He belongs to an agricultural family. His father was also known for his involvement in the local community and politics.

• Kokate began his political career as a student activist with the National Students’ Union of India( NSUI).

• He gained early recognition by serving in local governance roles, including as Chairman of the Sinnar Panchayat Samiti and President of the Nashik Zilla Parishad.

• In 1990, he joined the Indian National Congress and served the party till 1999.

• In 1999, Kokate joined the newly founded Sharad Pawar‘s Nationalist Congress Party (NCP). Later that year, when the NCP leaders denied him a ticket for the Member of the Legislative Assembly, he left the NCP.

  

• Soon after that, he joined the Shiv Sena and received a ticket for the assembly election. He also won his first assembly election from Sinnar in 1999 and retained the seat till 2004.

• In 2004, he left the Shiv Sena and joined the Indian National Congress, where he won the 2009 assembly election from Sinnar on a Congress ticket.

• In 2014, he again switched to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and received the ticket for the assembly election. However, this time he was defeated by the Shiv Sena candidate, Rajabhau Waje.

• In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Manikrao Kokate ran as an independent candidate from Nashik but lost to a Shiv Sena candidate. Later that year, he rejoined the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and received a ticket for the 2019 assembly elections. He won the Sinnar assembly seat for the fourth time by a very narrow margin.

• In the 2024 elections, he contested from Ajit Pawar‘s Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and won for the fifth time against Uday Sangale, who represented Sharad Pawar‘s Nationalist Congress Party (NCP). He secured victory with a margin of over 138,000 votes.

• After his win, he was appointed the Agriculture Minister in Devendra Fadnavis‘ government from December 2024.

  

• In February 2025, a court in Nashik convicted Kokate and his brother Sunil Kokate in a cheating and forgery case dating back to 1995. The case involved the misuse of flats designated for the Economically Weaker Section (EWS) housing quota. The court sentenced Kokate and his brother to two years in jail and imposed a fine of Rs 50,000 each. However, Kokate appealed the decision, and the sessions court granted a stay on the conviction and sentence, allowing him to retain his position as an MLA.

• On July 20, 2025, NCP (SP) MLA Rohit Pawar shared a video of Manikrao playing an online game, Rummy Circle, while attending a legislative assembly session on tribal dairy welfare.

• Two days after this incident, Pawar made a controversial statement in a press conference in Nashik, saying, “The government is the beggar, not the farmers,” about irregularities in the ₹1 crop insurance scheme for farmers presented by the Maharashtra government. He added that over 5.5 lakh fake applications were caught and cancelled under this scheme during his time as minister.

• Numerous farmer groups and opposition parties are calling for his resignation due to these controversies. Even some leaders from his party publicly criticised his statements and suggested possible actions against him.

• Manikrao Kokate is passionate about agriculture, community development, and local culture. He often attends community events to remain connected and inspired.