MUMBAI, 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." 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, 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 government should "survey the mud". In the opposition, state Congress president Harshvardhan Sapkal slammed Kokate for disrespecting the farming community. "Is he a minister or a motor mouth? He earlier compared farmers to beggars and now he seems to suggest that farming is obsolete." Also from the opposition camp, NCP (SP) legislator Rohit Pawar said: "Kokate has been making insensitive remarks about farmers. It is time his leader Ajit Pawar sent him home." Meanwhile, from the ruling Mahayuti alliance, revenue minister and state BJP chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule snubbed Kokate, saying ministers should exercise restraint while speaking in public. "He should avoid saying things that could hurt the feelings of the farmers." There was no reaction from NCP chief Ajit Pawar or Kokate himself. Significantly, in April, Pawar had warned Kokate who had been kicking up controversies with his public remarks even then. "Once, twice. but making the same mistake a third time will not be acceptable," Pawar had said in a meeting with NCP ministers and legislators on April 9. Widespread criticism of his remarks had prompted Pawar to issue Kokate a stern warning. After insulting the farming community served by his department a third time, will his party chief Ajit Pawar take action against him as announced in April?HTC...