Former Delhi law minister Somnath Bharti
Former Delhi Law Minister Somnath Bharti has blundered into his latest controversy by saying that "beautiful women" will feel safer if the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government takes over policing in the capital.
"I am fully confident that if Delhi government is given full control (over security), beautiful women will be able to go out even after midnight without any fear," Mr Bharti, an AAP lawmaker, said during a discussion in the Delhi assembly on crimes against women.
The assembly Speaker has since expunged the word "beautiful," saying it appears inappropriate in the circumstances.
Mr Bharti has not exactly redeemed himself with the clarifications he has offered.
On Facebook, he said: "I have said beautiful women laden with jewelry can travel at midnight fearlessly as the kind of benchmark one can measure security level at Delhi against, if AAP has police control."
Speaking to NDTV, he tried to pass off the comment as something he picked up from his grandfather. "I only gave an example. Back in the day we would hear that security was so good that the most beautiful of women laden with jewellery could go out at night," he said.
The AAP leader has been skewered by rival parties and on social media.
But in remarks that were seen as equally offensive, former Delhi Commission for Women chief Barkha Shukla said: "His wife is an average looking woman so he only thinks about beautiful women."
Somnath Bharti's brief stint as law minister was an embarrassment for the previous 49-day Arvind Kejriwal government. His midnight raid targeting African women at a south Delhi colony badly dented the party's image. He now faces action for the raid; Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung has cleared his prosecution.
Mr Bharti said: "Now that I am in public service I expect to get into trouble. Because nobody wants anyone to do any good work. I will never be charged with corruption but I expect resistance."
Recently, the former minister was accused by his wife of domestic violence, a charge that he has denied.