Jaya Bachchan elitist, can't be mass leader: Amar Singh

Rajya Sabha member Amar Singh on Tuesday said actress-turned-politician Jaya Bachchan is a good parliamentarian but an "elitist" who "dislikes people" and can never be a mass leader like Hema Malini, who too is a film actress.

"Jaya Bachchan and I have moral differences. She is pro-active in Parliament, takes her files to Rajya Sabha like a child taking a slate to school, and stays inside the House till the final gong sounds," Singh said while speaking at India TV Samvaad Conclave here.

"One reason behind this is that she is not a mass leader, she dislikes people. If photographers take her snap, she snatches away the camera. If any smelly person comes near her, she says 'keep this Dhoti Prasad away from me'. She belongs to the elite class," Singh, known to have strong opinions about different persons, added.

"As an MP she (Jaya) is good, but as a mass leader she is hopeless. On the other hand, Hema Malini likes meeting people in Mathura, she won her election from there, but Jaya Bachchan can never dream of winning a Lok Sabha election," he observed.

On former Samajwadi Party leader Naresh Agrawal's "mere film actress and dancer" remarks for Jaya Bachchan, Singh said: "We expected such a remark from him, because he belonged to the party where they treat women like this. I was acting as a Shukracharya, the guru of 'rakshasas' (demons) in that party for decades."

Agrawal quit Samajwadi Party and joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday, days after Samajwadi Party preferred Jaya Bachchan over him for the Rajya Sabha contest from Uttar Pradesh.

Both Agrawal and Jaya Bachchan are due to retire next month on the completion of their six-year term.

Singh also wanted to know from the BJP leaders as to what their stand would be on Mathura MP Hema Malini, since she too is a film actress.

"The SP, BJP and even Jaya Bachchan also owe an explanation to the people why they were silent when just two days back party (SP) leader Mohd Azam Khan had launched an uncouth and no-holds-barred attack on Jaya Prada," he said.

"She (Jaya Bachchan) is a woman, the 'bahu' of poet Harivansh Rai Bachchan. I feel pain when remarks like 'naachne wali' is made about her. This remark is also an insult to Lord Shiva, the Nataraja, and the Kathak maestro Birju Maharaj," Singh observed.

He also praised Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath for ensuring that graft ends in the state and for making the bureaucracy work overtime for the people. During his regime, massive corruption in excise department that existed for last two decades has ended, he said.

"This was possible because of Yogi in Uttar Pradesh and (Narendra) Modi at the Centre... and both are honest," he Singh.

However, that did not deter him from criticising the Yogi Adityanath government for what he called as "horrible mismanagement" during the recently held Global Business Summit in Lucknow.

"My experience was worse. I was invited on a VVIP card, but there was no seat for me. When I was about to exit, Aradhana Shukla offered me her seat. Industrialist Kumar Mangalam Birla was asked to show his lunch coupon. They were seeking food coupons from those from whom the government was seeking thousands of crores of investment. The management was horrible. I don't think a single industry will be set up despite MoUs being signed," he said.

He also praised the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and its front organisation Sewa Bharti for helping in renovating the "samadhi" (monument) of Maharana Pratap in Rajasthan.

--IANS

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