Madhya Pradesh Home Minister Babulal Gaur
The mood of the room, remarkably, did not shift towards awkward as a senior minister in Madhya Pradesh attempted to regale the convention. Babulal Gaur, 85, shared an anecdote of a trip to Russia in his youth. A local leader's wife, he said, had asked him how his
dhoti remained in place without a belt or a zip. Mr Gaur recalled that in what was apparently intended as witty banter, he said he could teach her the art of draping a
dhoti, but in private.
Mr Gaur's audience in Bhopal comprised nearly a hundred workers and supporters of the ruling BJP.
Mr Gaur is the Home Minister in Shivraj Singh Chouhan's government. He has also served in the past as the Chief Minister.
Mr Gaur's memories of his trip to Russia included being kissed on the forehead by a woman there. "If that had been noticed, I would not have got a ticket for the election at home," he joked.
In June last year, he described rape as a "social crime", professing "sometimes it's right and sometimes it's wrong." The BJP had dismissed his comments as an expression of his personal views, and not the party's. Months before that, he had professed that there are fewer cases of rape in the South because women there dress more "decently" and are more religious.