Opposition leaders, led by Congress veteran Sonia Gandhi, walked out of the Rajya Sabha again on Friday in support of Samajwadi Party MP Jaya Bachchan, opposing the 'Jaya Amitabh Bachchan' row in the Upper House once again this week.
The Samajwadi Party MP is a noted actor who is married to fellow actor and cinematic legend Amitabh Bachchan was introduced as 'Jaya Amitabh Bachchan' by the Rajya Sabha chairperson Jagdeep Dhankar twice this week.
Notably, Jaya has expressed strong approval of this practice and she did so again this afternoon.
She said, "I Jaya Amitabh Bachchan want to say this that I am an artist and I understand body language and expressions. And sir, your tone is not acceptable. We are colleagues sir, you maybe sitting on the Chair..."
Jaya's remarks led to an uproar in the house, prompting a sharp response from Dhankar. He took strong exception to her and said, "You've earned a great reputation and you know that an actor is subject to the director."
"You have not seen what I see from here. Everyday, I don't want to repeat. I don't want schooling. I am a person who has gone out of the way and you say, my tone..." an infuriated Dhankar said.
Strong opposition from the treasury benches further angered the Chairperson, with him saying that "there will be no uproar, enough of it. You can't have it".
"You may be anybody, you maybe a celebrity but, you have to understand the decorum. No, nothing doing. I will not bear it," Dhankar added.
Jaya stood firm after his remarks and said, "I need an apology from the Chair," as the uproar in the House further mounted.
Meanwhile, he also asked the ruling benches to remain calm and moved on to the next question.
However, a female member of the opposition raised questions as to how can the Chair call a reputed senior member of the Parliament as a 'celebrity'.
Dhankar retorted saying, "Okay, the senior member of the Parliament has a license to run down the reputation of the Chair, to question the tone and tenor... I don't go by script of others, I have my own script. I am not operated by anyone else."
As the opposition began walking out, Dhankar remarked that they are out to "destabilise the nation" and create chaos in the House.
The Chairman also referred to the anniversary of the Quit India movement and said the Opposition is quitting Parliament, their duty, their obligations and their oath to the Constitution.
Later, Leader of House JP Nadda said that the conduct of the Opposition was improper and condemnable. He also moved a "ninda prastav" (censure motion) over the Opposition's behaviour.
Speaking to reporters outside the Parliament, Jaya said, "I objected to the tone used by the Chair. We are not school children. 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? 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'," Jaya said.
Referring to his "you may be a celebrity, I do not care" remark, Jaya said that she is 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," she said while demanding an apology.
On Monday as well, Jaya had objected to Chairman Dhankar, saying "Sir, only Jaya Bachchan would have sufficed." She expressed discomfort about women being identified by their husbands names as if "they don't have their own identity".
