Actor-politician Jaya Bachchan and Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar faced off yet again on Friday after the Vice President referred to her as ‘Jaya Amitabh Bachchan’ while inviting her to speak at a debate in the Rajya Sabha. Visibly irritated, Bachchan accused Dhankhar of talking to her in an “unacceptable tone”, drawing protests from the Opposition MPs before they walked out of the Upper House.
Speaking in the Upper House on Friday, Bachchan, who is a Samajwadi Party MP, objected to the “unacceptable” tone used by Dhankhar against her and demanded an apology from him. “I am an artist. I understand body language and expressions. But your tone is not right. We are your colleagues, but your tone is unacceptable,” Bachchan said
To this, Dhankhar told Bachchan to understand the importance of maintaining decorum even if she is a celebrity. But he lost his cool as Opposition members sided with the actor-politician and protested against the Chairman. “Jaya ji you have earned a great reputation. You know an actor is subject to the director. But every day, I do not want to repeat myself. Every day, I don’t want to do schooling. You are talking about my tone? Enough of it. You may be anybody. You have to understand the decorum. You can be a celebrity but accept decorum,” Dhankhar fired back at Bachchan.
The Rajya Sabha Chairman asked the Opposition MPs to stop protesting and take their places but to no avail. “I have to be in action and take care of the situation,” he said. “Never carry an impression that only you build reputations,” Dhankhar slammed Bachchan while accusing the Opposition of attempting to destabilise the nation. “There is a lack of decorum. You are walking away from your duty,” Dhankhar said before the Opposition MPs, including Jaya Bachchan, walked out of the Rajya Sabha.
Union Minister JP Nadda, also the Leader of the House of Rajya Sabha, moved a censure motion against Jaya Bachchan over her remarks targeting Dhankhar. This is the third such face-off between Dhankhar and Bachchan in the past 10 days over the former being referred to as ‘Jaya Amitabh Bachchan’. On July 29, Bachchan objected to using her husband Amitabh Bachchan’s name as her middle name, saying every woman had their own identity too.
