Junglee Rummy: The Game Maharashtra Minister Was Seen Playing In Assembly

Maharashtra Agriculture Minister Manikrao Kokate is facing criticism and public scrutiny after he was caught on camera allegedly playing Junglee Rummy game during a legislative assembly session.

A video of the minister playing the game on his mobile phone has surfaced on social media.

What is Junglee Rummy game?

Junglee Rummy is a popular online card game app and website where people can play various formats, such as Points Rummy, Deals Rummy and Pool Rummy. It is a skill-based card game played with two to six players using one or two decks of cards. Millions of users have downloaded it on their devices, where they stand a chance to win real cash prizes.

What is the controversy?

Rohit Pawar, a Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) MLA, posted a clip in which Mr Kokate appeared to be playing the game. This sparked public outrage, calling the minister insensitive, especially when farmers in the state are dealing with an agrarian crisis.

"Even with countless agricultural issues pending and 8 farmers committing suicide daily in the state, the Agriculture Minister, with nothing else to do, seems to have time to play rummy," Mr Pawar wrote on X and shared the clip.

“#जंगली_रमी_पे_आओ_ना_महाराज…!”

सत्तेतल्या राष्ट्रवादी गटाला भाजपला विचारल्याशिवाय काहीच करता येत नाही म्हणूनच शेतीचे असंख्य प्रश्न प्रलंबित असताना, राज्यात रोज ८ शेतकरी आत्महत्या करत असताना सुद्धा काही कामच नसल्याने कृषिमंत्र्यांवर रमी खेळण्याची वेळ येत असावी.

रस्ता भरकटलेल्या… pic.twitter.com/52jz7eTAtq

— Rohit Pawar (@RRPSpeaks) July 20, 2025

Mr Kokate refuted the allegations, claiming he was just skipping a YouTube advertisement. He claimed that the game popped up automatically when he was trying to watch the lower house Assembly proceedings on YouTube.  

"When I know there is a camera, why would I sit there to play a game? I wanted to skip it, I tried twice, I didn't know how to skip the game, but in the next second, I skipped it," he said.

The minister added that the opposition was blaming him unfairly by just showing an incomplete video. "If you watch the full video, you will see that I skipped the game," he added.

"I picked up my mobile to see what was going on in the lower house on YouTube, and then the game got downloaded on my phone. I was trying to skip it, but it didn't work. And the opposition is targeting me based on an incomplete video," he added.