Manikrao Kokate

Manikrao Kokate is a politician from Nashik District of Maharashtra State. He is currently MLA of Sinnar Assembly Constituency on NCP Ticket. He has won from Sinnar assembly constituency 5 times.
He has unsuccessfully contested as Independent candidate for 2019 Lok Sabha Elections from Nashik Lok Sabha Constituency.

Political career

He started his political journey with Indian National Congress at young age. He left the Congress and joined the Nationalist Congress Party, which was founded by Sharad Pawar in 1999. After NCP denied him ticket for Sinnar Assembly Constituency, he switched to Shivsena and won the seat in 1999 and 2004 Maharashtra Assembly elections. Later he joined the rebellion of then Shivsena leader Narayan Rane and joined Congress along with Rane. He won from Sinnar for third time in 2009 assembly election on Congress ticket. He again switched to BJP for 2014 assembly election and was defeated by Shivsena candidate Rajabhau Waje. In 2019 Loksabha Elections, he fought as independent candidate from Nashik Lok Sabha seat, he was defeated by Shivsena candidate. He once again switched to NCP for 2019 assembly elections, he won the Sinnar assembly seat for 4th time by very thin margin. In the 2024 assembly elections, he won by a huge margin against the NCP Sharad Pawar's candidate, Uday Sangale.