Days after the controversy caused by Congress spokesperson Shama Mohamed's comments on India's Test and ODI cricket captain Rohit Sharma, yet another Congress leader, Tika Ram Jully, has gotten himself into another controversy—this time for making comments on actress Madhuri Dixit from Bollywood.
Tika Ram Jully, the Rajasthan Assembly's Leader of Opposition, called the veteran actress a "second-grade actor" and asserted that "her prime has passed." He made these remarks while debating the recently conducted International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) Awards in a session in the Rajasthan Assembly.
The leader of the Congress severely criticized the Rajasthan government for having spent more than ₹100 crore on organizing the IIFA event in Jaipur on March 8 and 9. Questioning the net gain of the event for the state, he also mentioned the lack of many top-level Bollywood stars.
Reacting to a BJP legislator bringing Madhuri Dixit's attendance at the event to his notice, Jully allegedly referred to her as a "Grade II actress."
"Only Shah Rukh Khan was among the first-grade actors," he said while commenting on the guest list of IIFA 2025.
Jully's remarks follow another controversy over Congress spokesperson Shama Mohamed. She was recently trolled over a now-deleted X (formerly Twitter) post in which she called Rohit Sharma "overweight" and "the most unimpressive captain India has ever had."
"Rohit Sharma is chubby for an athlete! Should lose weight! And of course, the most disappointing Captain India has ever seen," she had posted. The Congress later distanced itself from her comment, stating that they did not represent the official stand of the party and asking her to delete the post.
Now, the remarks of Jully have left the party in yet another quandary. During the course of lashing the state government over what he deemed was an unecessary outgo for the IIFA Awards, he said:
"Over ₹100 crore was donated for the IIFA event. There were no top Bollywood actors. Some mention Madhuri Dixit's attendance, but Madhuri is a second-rate actor nowadays… her best days are over. She used to be a star during the days of Dil and Beta."
He went on to doubt the authenticity of the event, declaring:
"Who was the industry bigwig who came? Besides Shah Rukh Khan, everyone else was a second-grade star. There wasn't any other first-grade actor there."
As a number of Assembly members protested his comments, Jully remained adamant and repeated his contention.
Later, in trying to explain himself while addressing the media, he stated:
"Other than Shah Rukh Khan, no other big star was present at IIFA. What kind of message do you wish to convey by inviting only 5-7 stars? There are various classes of actors according to their popularity."
He went on to add:
"The actors who were at the peak of their lives did not make an appearance. There is no question that Madhuri Dixit is a good actress, but the time when she was at the top of her life has gone by."
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