MUMBAI: Leaders of the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), at the meeting of the state legislature’s business advisory committee on Sunday, demanded the immediate disqualification of Maharashtra agriculture minister Manikrao Kokate, who was sentenced to imprisonment by a Nashik court last week. Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar, who belongs to the ruling BJP, replied that he had not received a certified copy of the court’s order and would take a decision only after that as per the rules mandated by the Election Commission of India (ECI).
Present at the meeting, which was called to decide on the dates of the budget session, were Narwekar, chairperson of the legislative council Ram Shinde, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, deputy CMs Ajit Pawar and Eknath Shinde, group leaders and the senior leaders of all the parties in the ruling and opposition alliances. It was decided at the meeting that the budget session of the state legislature would start from March 3, that Ajit Pawar would present the budget on March 10 and that the business of both houses would be conducted till March 26.
Opposition leaders used the opportunity to press vociferously for the disqualification of Kokate, who was sentenced to two years of jail by a Nashik court last week. The provisions of The Representation Of The People Act, 1951 mandate that a person cannot continue as an MLA or MP or in any other public representative position if he is sentenced to a prison term of two or more years. In December 2023, Congress MLA Sunil Kedar was disqualified by the Maharashtra state legislature secretariat within 24 hours after he was convicted by a Nagpur court of financial irregularities in a district co-operative bank.
Jitendra Awhad, MLA and NCP (SP) group leader in the assembly, handed over a letter to Speaker Narwekar demanding that Kokate be disqualified forthwith. While speaking to the media later, he said, “How can a minister who has been sentenced to jail by a court continue in the cabinet? When Congress leader Sunil Kedar was convicted, Narwekar disqualified him the very next day of the court’s order. In Kokate’s case, he has not taken any action for over three days and is merely saying that he is awaiting a copy of the court order.”
Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray and party MP Sanjay Raut too demanded Kokate’s immediate disqualification. However, Raut expressed doubts about Narwekar, given the backdrop of his verdict in the Shiv Sena MLAs disqualification case. “After his conviction, Kokate should definitely be disqualified but I have no expectation of justice from Speaker Narwekar,” he said.
Narwekar, on his part, maintained that he was awaiting a certified copy of the court order and would take a decision after that in accordance with the law. “People like Sanjay Raut have no knowledge of the law and the notification of the Election Commission dated October 13, 2015,” he said. “As per that notification, it is mandatory for the law-enforcement agencies to submit a certified copy of the court order to the state legislature within seven days of the verdict. After receiving the copy, the decision on disqualification has to be delivered in the next seven days. I will prove Raut wrong and deliver justice.”