At an event in Indore on Wednesday, Madhya Pradesh home minister Narottam Mishra was spotted without a mask on.

Standing in the middle of a crowd of reporters, he was asked why he wasn’t wearing a mask, to which he was caught on camera saying things including, “Isme kya hota hain?” (What will happen?) and “Nahi, main pehenta nahi hoon” (No, I don’t wear them).

When there was a furore over his comments on social media, Mishra apologised for his comments in a tweet, saying he would wear a mask, and appealing to others to wear theirs and follow social distancing.

Mishra also reportedly defended his stance against masks saying, “I normally wear a mask but I can’t sport it for a long time, as I am suffering from polypus and if I wear a mask it leads to suffocation,” India Today reported.