An MLA from Maharashtra's Amravati district has courted controversy by claiming that a "farmer's son" has to settle for an "inferior bride" as the best-looking girls prefer to marry men who have steady jobs.
Devendra Bhuyar, Independent MLA from Warud-Morshi and a supporter of Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, was talking about farmers' woes while speaking at a gathering in Warud tehsil of the district on Tuesday.
"If a girl is beautiful, she will not like a person like you and me, but she will opt for a person having a job (while choosing her husband)," he said.
"Girls who are at number two," that is, who are somewhat less good-looking, prefer someone who runs a grocery shop or paan kiosk, he said.
"A number three girl would like (to marry) the son of a farmer," he said, adding that only girls who are "at the bottom of the lot" marry a boy from a farming family.
The children of such marriages also lack good looks, he added.
Congress leader and former Maharashtra Women and Child Development Minister Yashomati Thakur slammed Mr Bhuyar for using such language while talking about women.
"Ajit Pawar and those in power should keep their MLAs under control. No one will tolerate such categorisation of women. Society will teach you a lesson," said Ms Thakur, who is an MLA from the same district.
