India, June 1 -- State agriculture minister and NCP legislator Manikrao Kokate kicked up a fresh controversy on Saturday by describing his job as "osad gao chi patilki" (being chieftain of a deserted village). Kokate made the remark while speaking at a function in Nashik. "This ministry is like being chieftain of a deserted village. Of course, one can try and do good work in it," he said.

Kokate's remark came only a day after another comment he made drew sharp criticism. Addressing the media on the demand for a survey to assess crop damage due to unseasonal rains, the minister had said that, in many places, the fields were barren as the farmers had already cleared away what was left of their crops. Kokate asked, rhetorically, whether the...