‘You May Be A Celebrity But...’: RS Chairman Replies As Jaya Bachchan Questions His Tone, She Demands Apology

Vice-President and Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhakhar on Friday lost his cool and schooled Samajwadi Party (SP) MP Jaya Amitabh Bachchan after the veteran actor questioned his tone in the House during the ongoing monsoon session. The heated exchange led to protests by the Opposition members, who finally staged a walkout.

The exchange started soon after the Chair called upon the five-time MP to speak. “Honourable members, Jaya Amitabh Bachchan is the last member to speak on this point. Please begin, ma’am,” said Dhankhar.

To this, Bachchan stood up and replied, “Mai Jaya Amitabh Bachchan ye bolna chahti hu ki mai kalakar hu, body language samajhti hu, expression samajhti hu. (I am an artiste, I understand body language and expressions).”

She went on to say, “Pardon me for saying this, but your tone…” She then expressed unhappiness over Dhankhar’s tone and said, “We are colleagues, sir. You may be sitting on the chair, but that does not mean you will school us.”

Responding to the MP, a furious Dhankhar said, “Jaya ji please take your seat. Jaya ji, you have earned a great reputation. You know, an actor is subject to the director. Every day I don’t want to repeat. I don’t want to do schooling. You are talking about my tone? ”

He added, “You may be a celebrity, but you have to understand the decorum. You think only you bring reputation to the House?”

However, Bachchan, stood firm and sought an apology. “I need an apology from the Chair,” she said as protests mounted against Dhankhar and the Opposition MPs led by Congress leader Sonia Gandhi walked out.

Later, speaking to the media, Bachchan said, “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 mike. How can you do this?”

Referring to events of mic turn-offs and denial of permission to the Leader of the Opposition to speak, she said, “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,” she added.

Bharatiya Janata Party IT Cell chief Amit Malviya has demanded that Bachchan “apologise to the Chair now.”

In a post on X, he wrote, “Jaya Amitabh Bachchan should know that a Member of Parliament and the Vice President of India are not colleagues. The Chairperson is responsible for running the House and MPs are bound by the Chair’s diktat. She should stop being smug and preachy.”