Jaya Bachchan set for 5th Rajya Sabha term: A look at her Parliament career till now

Samajwadi Party National President Akhilesh Yadav along with wife Dimple Yadav, Rajya Sabha MP Jaya Bachchan, party’s senior leader Ram Gopal Yadav and BSP National General Secretary Satish Chandra Mishra. (Express file photo by Vishal Srivastava)

Bachchan is not known for taking things lying down. Following her heated exchange with Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar last week, she said in her farewell speech, “I am frequently asked why I get upset. I am that way by nature; I am not changeable. I lose my temper if I don’t like or agree with something. I apologise if I offended any of you or became personal.”

The actor-turned-politician is also one of the most active parliamentarians around. According to the legislative research body PRS, Bachchan, 75, has had an attendance of 82% in the Upper House between 2009 and 2024, three percentage points higher than the national average of 79%. However, it is a percentage point lower than the average for UP, the state she represents.

As against a national average of 199.7 for participation in Rajya Sabha debates, the actor has taken part in 292 debates between 2009 and 2024, significantly higher than UP’s average of 193.8 on this parameter. Bachchan has not introduced any Private Members’ Bill to date. She asked 451 questions during Question Hour in this period as against a national and state average of 667.02 and 598.07, respectively.

Bachchan has not missed a single sitting of the Rajya Sabha from the Monsoon Session of 2023 until the recently concluded Budget Session. While in the Budget Session of 2010, her attendance was only 13%, it was nil in the first session of 2009.

In the course of her four Rajya Sabha terms so far, Bachchan has spoken on a range of issues such as the safety of women and their rights, street children, most polluted cities, politicisation of religion in the country, controversial statements by people in public office, need to criminalise marital rape, suicides and mental health issues, demand to confer Bharat Ratna on Mirza Ghalib, and the need to eliminate creamy layer consideration in reservation for people of backward classes.

She has also asked questions on issues such as forest fires, cyber security, linking of major rivers, poor living conditions of retired personnel of the central armed police forces, and illegal occupation of ASI land, among other things.

Bachchan has also found herself in several rows. During a discussion on the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (Amendment) Bill in 2021, when questioned about the summons sent to her daughter-in-law Aishwarya Rai Bachchan in the Panama Papers case, she said, “Your bad days will be here soon … I curse you.” She then went on to call out the Chair for not listening to the Opposition.

In September 2020, amid a row following the death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput, Bachchan gave a Zero Hour notice in the House to discuss “the alleged conspiracy to defame the film industry”.