‘You can be a celebrity but…’: Jagdeep Dhankhar responds to Jaya Bachchan’s ’tone sahi nahin hain’ remark

Samajwadi Party (SP) MP Jaya Bachchan and Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankar on Friday engaged in a battle of words when the former demanded an apology after a heated exchange of words over BJP MP Ghanshyam Tiwari’s remarks against Leader of the Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge on the floor of the house.

Friday’s spat occurred amid the Opposition’s demand that BJP MP Ghanshyam Tiwari’s remarks on the Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge, be expunged.

Jaya Bachchan started her speech by saying, “Main kalakaar hoon, body language samajhti hoon, expression samajhti hoon (I am an artist, I understand body language and expression)”.

Amid the table tapping of approval from the Opposition benches, the actor-politician further added, “Sir mujhe maaf kariyega, par aapka tone jo hain, sahi nahin hain. We are colleagues sir, you may be sitting on the Chair (Excuse me, but your tone [Jagdeep Dhankar’s] is not right)”.

Chairman Dhankar took strong exception to Jaya Bachchan’s remarks, saying he does not want schooling and that he does not go by any script and has his own script.

“Jaya ji, take your seat. You are an actor; you know they are subject to the director. You have not seen what I see from here. I don’t want schooling. I am a person who has gone out of the way, and you say my tone?”.

“Enough of it. You may be anybody. You have to understand the decorum. You can be a celebrity, but accept decorum,” Dhankar added.

This was the second time in a week that Jagdeep Dhankhar introduced Jaya Bachchan as “Jaya Amitabh Bachchan.” Jaya Bachchan has previously expressed her strong disapproval of this practice.

‘I want an apology’: Jaya Bachchan demands from Jagdeep Dhankar

Later, when speaking to reporters, Jaya 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 the opposition stood up to speak, he switched off the microphone.”

“How can you do this? You have to allow the Leader of the Opposition to speak… I mean using unparliamentary words every time, which I do not want to say in front of you all. He uses words like a nuisance, ‘Buddhiheen’,” the Samajwadi Party MP said.

She further said, “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 spoken in Parliament these days, nobody has ever spoken. I want an apology,” she added.

The confrontation between Jaya Bachchan and Jagdeep Dhankar led to protests from Opposition members, who, led by Congress MP Sonia Gandhi, walked out of the Rajya Sabha. “All opposition parties feel Rajya Sabha chairman’s approach is partial,” Congress leader Ajay Maken said.

As the Opposition members walked out of the Rajya Sabha, Dhankar referred to the anniversary of the Quit India movement and said the Opposition is quitting parliament, their duty.

Third face-off between Bachchan and Dhankar in 10 days

On July 29, Jaya Bachchan objected to using her husband Amitabh Bachchan’s name as her middle name, saying every woman had their own identity too.

Calling her to speak in the Rajya Sabha, Deputy Chairman Harivansh had said, “Shrimati Jaya Amitabh Bachchan ji, please.”

The actor-politician replied, “Sir, sirf Jaya Bachchan bolte to kaafi hojata (It would’ve been enough to call me Jaya Bachchan).”

On August 2, Samajwadi Party MP Jaya Bachchan’s self-introduction as ‘Jaya Amitabh Bachchan’ elicited a hearty reaction from Dhankhar.

This unexpected twist caused Dhankhar to burst into laughter, a reaction echoed by several other MPs, including Congress’ Jairam Ramesh and Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) Raghav Chadha.

Jaya Bachchan jested, “Did you get a lunch break today? No? This is why you’re repeatedly taking Jairam Ji’s name. You cannot digest your food without taking his name.”

Dhankhar responded in kind, saying, “I’ll tell you on a light-hearted note. I did not take a lunch break today, but I had lunch with Jairam ji,” further amusing the house. He said, “I also want to tell you that this might be the first time I am both yours and Amitabh Ji’s fan.”

Jaya Bachchan again objected to the use of Amitabh in her middle name on August 5. Dhankhar told her about the name change process in the official records of the Election Commission.