Sonia Gandhi leads walkout following Jaya Bachchan clash with Rajya Sabha chairman
PTC News Desk: Leading opposition parties, including the Congress icon Sonia Gandhi, left the Rajya Sabha on Friday afternoon in a major demonstration of solidarity for Samajwadi Party MP Jaya Bachchan, who was protesting the Upper House's continuation of the "Jaya Amitabh Bachchan" controversy.
Ms. Bachchan, a well-known actor who is married to fellow movie star Amitabh Bachchan, has been introduced as "Jaya Amitabh Bachchan" twice in this legislative session. Ms. Bachchan has stated how much she detests this behavior. After the walkout, she spoke to media and criticised the treatment of opposition MPs, drawing comparisons with the tolerance shown to members of the ruling BJP or its supporters. She added, "It was a very humiliating experience..."
When asked to repeat the "Jaya Amitabh Bachchan" call this afternoon, Ms. Bachchan did it once again. Rajya Sabha Chairperson Jagdeep Dhankhar, however, retorted, saying, "Don't school me."
However, Ms. Bachchan remained steadfast and insisted on an apology. She remarked, "I need an apology from the Chair," as opposition MPs began to leave and demonstrations against Mr. Dhankhar grew more intense.
Following a forceful declaration by Ms. Bachchan, opposition MPs, led by Sonia Gandhi and Derek O'Brien of the Trinamool Congress, assembled outside Parliament. Several of them later spoke on her behalf.
Priyanka Chaturvedi of Shiv Sena (UBT) noted that Bachan possesses "vast parliamentary experience... more than the Vice President," while Dola Sen of Trinamool Congress asserted that Bachan is a four-time MP and should be treated with dignity.
Rajya Sabha MP and BJP leader JP Nadda expressed his indignation over the opposition MPs' walkout, labelling it "indecent and irresponsible" actions. "The opposition should apologize and wants to weaken the country," he said in the by now mostly empty House.
"It is evident that their political standards have declined; instead of standing up for a party or a certain candidate, they are now against the nation. They're trying to split up the nation," he said.
Not just Mr. Nadda, but other BJP leaders also took aim at the opposition. Declared "I have never seen such unruly, indecent behavior of the opposition," was Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.
"The mind is troubled and hurting today. This is offensive not just to the Chair but also to the nation's democratic ideals. It is disrespectful to the Constitution and to democracy."
"It has been demonstrated today that the careless opposition is attempting to bring the nation to anarchy. He asserted, "The opposition ought to apologize. They have embarrassed the House and nation."
Afterwards, Mr. Dhankhar postponed the meeting till 2:00 pm. Additionally, on Monday, Ms. Bachchan expressed her displeasure with women being recognised solely by their husbands' names as though "they don't have their own identity" and objected to Mr. Dhankhar, adding, "Sir, only Jaya Bachchan would have sufficed".
Then, Ms. Bachchan criticised the "new drama started by you all"—a reference to the Bharatiya Janata Party, her political enemies. She said, "This has never happened before." She corrected Deputy Chairman Harivansh Narayan Singh last month.
He had asked, "Shrimati Jaya Amitabh Bachchanji, please," asking her to speak. The woman remarked, "Sir, sirf Jaya Bachchan bolte to kaafi hojata (It would've been enough to call me Jaya Bachchan)," stating that women would now be identified by the names of their spouses. When informed that was the name included in Parliamentary records, they said, "They have no existence or achievements of their own."
- With inputs from agencies
