Jaya Bachchan, MP from Samajwadi Party (Photo: PTI)
Samajwadi Party MP Jaya Bachchan on Friday said she wants an apology from Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar for his “unacceptable” tone.
Opposition parties on Friday staged another walkout of the Rajya Sabha in support of Jaya Bachchan. The move came after Jaya Bachchan voiced her protest over the repeated revival of the ‘Jaya Amitabh Bachchan’ controversy in the Upper House.
After the strike, the SP MP said: “I objected to the tone of the chairman. We are not school children. Some of us are senior citizens. I was angry about the tone and especially when the leader of the opposition stood up to speak, he turned off the microphone. How can you do this?”
#WATCH | On her exchange with Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar, Samajwadi Party MP Jaya Bachchan said: “…I objected to the tone used by the Chairman. We are not school children. Some of us are senior citizens. I was upset with the tone and especially when the leader… photo.twitter.com/rh8F35pHsM—ANI (@ANI) August 9, 2024
She further said that the RS Chairman had used unparliamentary words like ‘nuisance’ and ‘Buddhiheen’ (crazy) in the Rajya Sabha.
“You have to let the Leader of the Opposition speak. I mean, every time using unparliamentary words which I don’t want to say in front of all of you. ‘You are a nuisance’, ‘Buddhiheen’. He said ‘you may be a celebrity, I don’t care’. I don’t ask him to bother about it. I say, I am a member of Parliament. This is my fifth term. I know what I am saying. The way people are talking in Parliament today, no one has ever spoken before,” Bachchan said.
The SP MP demanded an apology from Dhankhar. “I want an apology. I want an apology for saying ‘I don’t care’. He is in the chair, he should care.”
Addressing the House on Friday, Jaya Bachchan said, “I am an artist. I understand body language and expressions. But your tone is not good. We are your colleagues, but your tone is unacceptable.”
The RS chairman responded by saying that the actress-politician should maintain decorum even if she is a celebrity. “Jaya ji, you have earned a great reputation. You know that an actress is subject to the director. But every day I don’t want to repeat myself. Every day I don’t want to take any education. You are talking about my tone? Enough of that. You can be anyone. You have to understand decorum. You can be a celebrity but accept decorum,” Dhankhar said in the Rajya Sabha on Friday.
(With input from the agency)
First publication: Aug 09, 2024 | 3:04 PM IST