Madhya Pradesh Home Minister Babulal Gaur fuelled another controversy with his remarks that drinking liquor is a “fundamental right” and that it is a status symbol too.

“Alcohol does not increase crime. People lose their consciousness after consuming alcohol and that’s how it causes crime. The person who drinks within control does not cause crime,” he said, adding, one should not over drink. It is one’s fundamental right. Drinking is a social status symbol these days.

He was asked by reporters on Sunday for his reaction to extending the timing for sale of alcohol in Bhopal from 10 pm to 11.30 pm.

Mr. Gaur had previously said that sexual crime in >Chennai is low as women wear “full clothes”.

“Women in Tamil Nadu wear full clothes and hence the crime rate is lower there as compared to other States,” he said.