Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar and Samajwadi Party MP Jaya Bachchan got into a heated verbal clash during the Rajya Sabha session on Friday, 9th August.
This led to a walkout by the Opposition since the Chairman had switched off their mics, not allowing them to speak and the MPs alleging that the Speaker “misbehaved” with Jaya Bachchan.
Jaya Bachchan vs Jagdeep Dhankhar
During the Rajya Sabha (RS) session on 9th August, Bachchan raised disapproval over the “tone” which RS Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar addressed her with, calling it “unacceptable” and also the act of turning off the mics of Congress leader and the Leader of the Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge.
According to reports, the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha who is also the Vice President took offence to Bachchan’s words and said that he can’t be schooled.
The veteran actress-turned-politician was speaking on the issue of how Congress MPs were seeking an apology for the comments made by BJP member Ghanshyam Tiwari.
Watch: Vice President and Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar reacted to Jaya Amitabh Bachchan's statement, says, "You have earned a great reputation. You know, an actor is subject to the director. You have not seen what I see from here every day…" pic.twitter.com/ozwXADQbpd
— IANS (@ians_india) August 9, 2024
The Chairman bringing her forward to speak addressed her as “Jaya Amitabh Bachchan” to which she said “Main Jaya Amitabh Bachchan kalakar hoon, body language samajhti hoon, expression samajhti hoon… par sir, mujhe maaf kariega magar apka tone jo hai is not acceptable. (I Jaya Amitabh Bachchan am an actor. I understand body language and expression. Please forgive me but sir your tone is unacceptable). We are colleagues sir, you may be sitting on the Chair.”
This raised the ire of Dhankar who retorted with “Jaya ji, you’ve earned a great reputation. You know, an actor is subject to the director. You’ve not seen what I see from here, every day. I don’t want to repeat, I don’t want a schooling. I am a person who has gone out of the way, and you say my tone?”
When opposition MPs objected he said “No… no… enough of this. No. You can’t have it. No…”
He further said, “You may be anybody, you may be a celebrity but you have to understand the decorum.” Dhankar also said “Never carry an impression that only you build reputations. We come here to build reputations. We live up to reputations.”
When TMC’s Sushmita Dev said “She is a senior member of the Parliament. How can you call her ‘celebrity’,” Dhankar responded how “a senior member of the Parliament has no licence to run down the reputation of the Chair, to question tone and tenor.”
He also said “Yes, I had to be in reaction mode to take care of the situation. I have the highest respect but to make it a habit… my tone, my language, my temper. I don’t go by script of others. I have my own script. I am not operated by anyone else.”
During the walkout of the opposition MPs, he stated “There is a lack of decorum. You are walking away from your duty,” and “I know you are wanting to destabilise the entire nation. You are out to create chaos in the House.”
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Not The First Time
This is now the third time that Jaya Bachchan has objected to this name being used for her, with it happening earlier in the week also during a Parliament session on 5th August.
The Rajya Sabha Chairman used the name Jaya Amitabh Bachchan when referring to her and she said “Sir, I hope you know the meaning of Amitabh. I mean, I am proud of the association with my marriage and my husband, but I am just saying that I am very happy and proud of my husband’s achievements.”
She added “This is a new drama started by you all. This did not use to happen before.”
To this Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar said, “However, Jaya Ji, the name that appears in the election certificate is what is used, and you can get the name changed; there is a provision for that.”
On July 29th too, the SP MP had been addressed as “Jaya Amitabh Bachchan” by Deputy Chairman Harivansh Narayan Singh during House proceedings.
Harivansh Narayan while calling on her to speak in the House addressed her as “Shrimati Jaya Amitabh Bachchan ji, please.”
To this, she said “Sir, sirf Jaya Bachchan bolte to kaafi hojata (It would’ve been enough to call me Jaya Bachchan).”
When Mr. Singh tried to explain how “Your full name was written here, I just repeated the same,” she added “This is something new, that women will be recognised by the name of their husbands. They (women) have no existence or achievements of their own.”
Watch: "It's a very painful incident and we should not bring politics into the matter," says Samajwadi Party MP Jaya Bachchan on the death of the UPSC student in Old Rajinder Nagar pic.twitter.com/4928QcZoNS
— IANS (@ians_india) July 29, 2024
During the Friday session of 2nd August Jaya Bachchan had even poked fun at it herself, introducing herself as “Main Jaya Amitabh Bachchan aap se poochungi ( I, Jaya Amitabh Bachchan, want to ask you)” to which Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar even burst out into laughter.
https://twitter.com/Indian_Analyzer/status/1819312054714458460
However, the situation seems to have escalated beyond that with Bachchan also reportedly seeking an apology from Dhankar saying “I objected to the tone used by the Chair. We are not schoolchildren. Some of us are senior citizens. I was upset with the tone and especially when the Leader of Opposition stood up to speak, he switched off the mic.
How can you do this? You have to allow the Leader of Opposition to speak… I mean using unparliamentary words every time which I do not want to say in front of you all. You are a nuisance, ‘Buddhiheen’.
He said ‘you may be a celebrity, I do not care’. I am not asking him to care. I am saying I am a Member of Parliament. This is my fifth term. I know what I am saying. The way things are being spoken in Parliament these days, nobody has ever spoken before. I want an apology.”
Adding further she said “You have to allow the leader (LoP). Who is going to protect us? Leader of the Opposition. We are all together in the Opposition. If the LoP is not going to be heard in the House then what are we doing?
And on top of that every time using unparliamentary language such as you are a nuisance, budhi-heen (foolish); he said you may be a celebrity but I don’t care. I am not asking him to care. I am saying I am an MP and no one has ever spoken the way it is now. And so disrespectful to women.”
The MP said, “I need an apology for saying I don’t care. He has to care. He is on the Chair and he has to care.”
Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi after the exchange also commented that “She (Samajwadi Party MP Jaya Bachchan) comes with vast more experience than the Vice President himself. He cannot disrespect the Member of Parliament.”
Image Credits: Google Images
Feature image designed by Saudamini Seth
Sources: The Financial Express, The Indian Express, Hindustan Times
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