"Reports of Jaya Bachchan complaint wrong"

Amid reports on some TV news channels that Samajwadi Party MP Jaya Bachchan had complained to Chairman M. Hamid Ansari about cameras excessively focusing on her during the oath-taking ceremony of actress Rekha, the Rajya Sabha secretariat Wednesday denied the news as factually incorrect.

"The attention of the secretariat has been drawn to the reports in the electronic media that Smt. Jaya Bachchan, MP, Rajya Sabha, has sent a complaint to Chairman, Rajya Sabha, regarding certain aspects of the coverage of the proceedings of the house. The news reports are factually incorrect," said a statement by the secretariat.

"Smt. Jaya Bachchan has written to the chairman, committee on government assurances, with a copy to secretary general on matters pertaining to assurances given on the floor of the house," the statement added.

It said that the live coverage of the proceedings of the Rajya Sabha continued to be undertaken by Doordarshan. "This function is yet to be transferred to the newly established Rajya Sabha television," the statement said.

TV channels had reported in the evening that Jaya Bachchan had complained to Ansari that the cameras in the Rajya Sabha kept cutting to her when actor Rekha was being sworn-in as an MP Tuesday. Rekha was nominated to the upper house by the president.

Congress spokesperson Renuka Chowdhary told mediapersons that an individual had the right to complain.

There were reports claiming that Jaya Bachchan had got her seat shifted to avoid being in the camera frame with Rekha, who was her co-star in the 1981 Bollywood film "Silsila".

Jaya Bachachan earlier had seat number 91 while Rekha was allotted seat number 99. Jaya Bachchan said she wanted to change the seat because of the demise of party colleague Brij Bhushan Tiwari, who sat next to her.