Veteran actress and politician Jaya Bachchan recently took a stand to express her displeasure over her husband’s name being used as her middle name. On July 29, she objected after the Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman, Harivansh Narayan Singh, addressed her using her husband’s name, calling her Jaya Amitabh Bachchan. Singh quickly pointed out that the name used was registered in the parliament’s records and that he was simply referring to it. A video of Bachchan raising the issue of women being identified by their husbands’ names has been circulating on the internet, with several netizens sharing their views in the comments.

When Singh asked Jaya Bachchan to speak during the parliament session on Monday, he said, “Shrimati Jaya Amitabh Bachchan ji, please.” In response, she remarked, “Sir, sirf Jaya Bachchan bolte to kaafi hojata” (It would’ve been enough to call me Jaya Bachchan). However, the Deputy Chairman immediately clarified that he used the name officially registered in the parliament’s records.

Advertisement

Further expressing her frustration, Jaya Bachchan said, “Ye jo hain kuch naya tarika hain ki mahilaayen apni pati ke naam se jaani jaye. Unka koi astitva nahi. Unki koi upalabdh hi nahi hain, apne mein aur astitva nahi hain. Ye jo naya shuru hua hain, I just…” (Some new methods have emerged where women are identified by their husbands’ names. Women have no identity. They have no achievements or identity of their own. This new thing, I just…)

Watch Jaya Bachchan speaking out:

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

After addressing this issue, she also commented on the tragic deaths of three UPSC aspirants at a Delhi coaching center. She described it as a very painful incident and emphasized that politics should not be involved. For context, last week, three students drowned in the flooded basement of a coaching center in East Delhi. This incident has led to protests by students, who are blaming civic negligence. Additionally, a political blame game has ensued, with the BJP blaming the Aam Aadmi Party, which is in power in the Union Territory and controls the MCD.

Following the video’s release on social media, many netizens praised her for speaking out against misogyny, while others questioned how her name came to be registered as ‘Jaya Amitabh Bachchan’ if she had not chosen it herself. They expressed concern about whether her husband’s name was added by someone else and if this practice is applied to everyone.

On the acting front, Jaya was last seen in ‘Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani,’ alongside Ranveer Singh, Alia Bhatt, Dharmendra, and Shabana Azmi.