Samajwadi Party MP Jaya Bachchan raised her objection in Rajya Sabha when the Chairman, Jagdeep Dhankhar, used her full name in the House. She termed it a "new drama" that has started in Parliament.
Bachchan said, "Sir, you know what Amitabh means to me. While I am very proud of my marriage and my husband, I am only rejoicing, feeling happy and proud about his success."
She further criticised, "This is a new form of drama initiated by you all. Such practices were not prevalent before."
In his turn, Vice President Dhankhar explained that there is a procedure for a change to the name on the election certificate. He said while the whole country is very proud of the achievements of Amitabh Bachchan, "The name on the election certificate is what is officially used, and you can request a change if needed."
Bachchan also asked why, bracketed with his name, Union Minister Manohar Lal Khattar did not mention his wife's name. "Regarding my wife's name in front of mine, that won't happen in this lifetime; you'll have to wait until the next one," replied Khattar in jest.
This came after Bachchan had earlier objected to being referred to as "Jaya Amitabh Bachchan" by Deputy Chairman Harivansh Narayan Singh when the House was in session on July 29. She had said, "Just 'Jaya Bachchan' would have sufficed," and went on to outline how she felt women were being referred to only by their husbands' names, which diminishes their identity.
He further attached a supplementary question on the waterlogging issue in Gurgaon, raising questions about smart city initiatives. "Gurgaon was declared a smart city and yet there was tremendous waterlogging. I couldn't visit because of it. If that's the plight of a smart city, how many more capitals will make it to the smart city list?"
Khattar said, on the contrary, Gurgaon was not in the list of smart cities; only Faridabad and Karnal had been identified as smart cities in Haryana. I was the Chief Minister of Haryana for 9.5 years. In 2014, when my government was sworn into office, I remember every sort of development, multi-layered roads, flyovers. Of course, this is something that can happen in view of heavy rainfall, but we will sort it out. Gurgaon is an iconic city, I mean, of 300, we have Fortune 500 companies in that city, and we should take pride in its progress."
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