New Delhi:

Samajwadi Party MP and veteran actor Jaya Bachchan has hit back at actor-politician Ravi Kishan who said in parliament yesterday that drug addiction is in the film industry too, saying that the industry is being “vilified on social media”.

“Just because of a few people, you cannot tarnish the whole industry. I was ashamed yesterday that one of the members in the Lok Sabha, who is from the industry itself, spoke ill of the industry. Jis thaali me khaate hain usi me chched karte hain,” Ms Bachchan said in the Rajya Sabha today, referring to the BJP MP’s statement in Lok Sabha. Her remark in Hindi, draws from the idiom, “Bite the hand that feeds you”.

Ravi Kishan, a popular actor of Bhojpuri and Hindi films, and a BJP MP from Uttar Pradesh, raised in parliament the drugs-related allegations that have emerged against the film industry in the Sushant Singh Rajput investigations. He alleged a “conspiracy” by Pakistan and China to destroy the country’s younger citizens.

“Drug addiction is in the film industry too. Several people have been apprehended. The NCB has been doing very good work. I urge the central government to take strict action against the culprits soon. Give them a befitting punishment and bring an end to this conspiracy by neighbouring countries,” Ravi Kishan said in the Lok Sabha, referring to the ongoing Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) investigation linked to the Sushant Singh Rajput death case, in which actor Rhea Chakraborty, her brother Showik and four more were arrested last week.

Ms Bachchan, 72, said the government must stand by the entertainment industry. “Entertainment Industry is so important. But so many people who have made a name from this industry are today calling it a gutter. The industry is being villified on social media. Some of the people in the industry are among the highest taxpayers of the country. The government must stand by the entertainment industry,” she said.

The Narcotics Control Bureau is investigating charges of drug-dealing and use based on chats found on the phone of Rhea Chakraborty, a 28-year-old actor being investigated over the death of her boyfriend, popular star Sushant Singh Rajput, on June 14.

Rhea Chakraborty, who is in a Mumbai jail, has been accused of organising drugs for Mr Rajput. The anti-drugs agency called her “an active member of a drugs syndicate”.