Kailash Vijayvargiya's comments drew sharp criticism from the opposition and online.
A senior leader of the country's ruling BJP has sparked outrage by saying that girls who wear "dirty clothes" look like Shurpanakha, a demoness from the Indian epic Ramayana.
Kailash Vijayvargiya, the BJP general secretary, made the comment at a religious function organised in Indore on Thursday to mark the birth anniversaries of Lord Hanuman and Mahavir.
"When I go out at night and see young people intoxicated, I feel like giving them five-seven [slaps] to sober them up. I swear to God," he said.
"And the girls wear such dirty clothes... we think of women as goddesses... there's no trace of that in them. They look like Shurpanakha. God has given you a good body, wear nice clothes. Please teach your children well, I am very worried," he added.
In the popular versions of the Ramayana, Shurpanakha is the sister of the demon king Ravana. She is depicted as an ugly and lustful creature who tries to seduce Lord Ram and his brother Lakshman. When they reject her advances, she attacks them and Lakshman cuts off her nose and ears.
Mr Vijayvargiya's comments drew sharp criticism from the opposition and social media users, who accused him of misogyny and moral policing.
Congress spokesperson Sangeeta Sharma said, "BJP leaders humiliate women again and again. It shows their thinking and their attitude. BJP leader Kailash Vijayvargiya ji calling women as Shurpankha and making objectionable comments on their dress is appropriate in independent India. Apologize BJP!"
The BJP leader, who belongs to Indore, is known for his controversial statements made with impunity. Last month, he claimed that after Independence and Partition, whatever was left of India constituted a "Hindu Rashtra", brazenly contradicting the country's founding principle of secularism.