Veteran actor and politician Jaya Bachchan took a strong objection after Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman, Harivansh Narayan Singh, addressed her using her husband’s name yesterday.

“Shrimati Jaya Amitabh Bachchan ji, please,” Harivansh Narayan said – calling upon her to speak in the House. 

” Jaya Bachchan respinded, “Sir, sirf Jaya Bachchan bolte to kaafi hojata (It would’ve been enough to call me Jaya Bachchan).”

Harivansh Narayan Singh then pointed out that her name is officially registered as Jaya Amitabh Bachchan in Parliament’s records.

“Your full name was written here, I just repeated the same,” Mr Singh said.

“This is something new, that women will be recognised by the name of their husbands. They (women) have no existence or achievements of their own,” Ms Bachchan said.

Watch: “It’s a very painful incident and we should not bring politics into the matter,” says Samajwadi Party MP Jaya Bachchan on the death of the UPSC student in Old Rajinder Nagar pic.twitter.com/4928QcZoNS

— IANS (@ians_india) July 29, 2024

Ms Bachchan later addressed the deaths of three UPSC aspirants at a Delhi’s coaching centre.

“It’s a very painful incident and we should not bring politics into the matter,” she said.

Three students drowned in the flooded basement of a coaching centre in east Delhi last week.

The incident has sparked a protest by students, who have blamed civic negligence for the incident. A political blame-game has also begun, with the BJP targeting the Aam Aadmi Party, which is in power in Delhi and also controls MCD.

Actor and Rajya Sabha MP Jaya Bachchan on Wednesday hit out at the Centre over the Union Budget 2024, claiming that its had nothing to offer to the film industry.

Talking to NDTV outside the Parliament, the Samajwadi Party leader said that Budget did not offer anything to the film industry. “Actors, all actors. Hum logon ke liye kuch bhi nahi hai. Humari industry ke liye kuch nahi hai. (There is nothing in the Budget for us. There’s nothing for our industry.) Nothing for the country,” she said.

For 2024-25, the government has allocated Rs 4,342 crore to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB).

A total of Rs 36.93 crore was allocated for Art and Culture as compared Rs 45 crore allocated last year.

The Film and Television Institute of India, Pune (FTII) was given Rs 73.47 last year and has been allocated Rs 87.11 crore in this budget. The Satyajit Ray Film and Television
Institute(SRFTI) in Kolkata will recieve Rs 81 crore while Childrens Films Society of India’s budget has been tripled since last year to Rs 6 crore.

Rs 23 crore has been allocated to the National Film Development Corporation. 

Ahead of the budget, many in the media and entertainment sector had demanded to lower entertainment tax levied on movie tickets. The high taxes have turned away movie goers affecting the bottom line for filmmakers, producers and distributors.