Jaya Prada has denied suggestions that the Congress party and the Samajwadi Party have buried the hatchet and decided to work together after Congress president Sonia Gandhi's thumping victory in the Rae Bareli Parliament contitutency.
The United Progressive Alliance government headed by Manmohan Singh has included a number of organisations from the state in the list of exempted category and removed them from the list of organisations that were earlier counted as office of profit in order to shield a number of members of Parliament and legislators of the Samajwadi Party from facing disqualification.
"The charge made by the Bharatiya Janata Party is absurd. How can we work with a party that targetted Jaya Bachchan who was disqualified for holding an office of profit. Unfortunately, the courts are not asking how Mrs Gandhi should be treated. Before resigning, she had been chairman of the National Advisory Council and held an office of profit for two years. What about the salaries and perks that she drew during that period? Mrs Jaya Bachchan was targetted at someone's direction," Jaya Prada alleged.
Jaya Prada was speaking to newsmen after she stepped out of the Lok Sabha minutes after the amendment bill was introduced in the house. According to the admendment, 45 organisations have also been included in the exempted category and members of Parliament or legislators holding posts in various capacities in these organisations would not come under perview of the constitutional bar.
When asked whether Jaya Bachchan was wrongly advised by her party office bearers and why she did not resign, Jaya Prada said, "During her tenure of chairman of the Children's Film Society she did not enjoy any benefit. It is of tremendous advantage to have a person of her stature to head an organisation," she said.
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Office of Profit Issue