A most-talked about friendship between the Gandhis and Bachchans that had turned bitter in the last century may witness a thaw after Congress Parliamentary Party Chairperson Sonia Gandhi met Samajwadi Party Rajya Sabha MP Jaya Bachchan as she arrived at the Parliament on Wednesday. They both exchanged salutations amicably and shared smiles before they could move ahead and join the Opposition protest against the Union Budget presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday. TMC MP Derek O’Brien also accompanied them as well. There was a time when the Gandhis and the Bachchan family shared a close friendship, which gradually faded over the years. Evidently it was Former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi’s suggestion that Amitabh Bachchan contested and could win the Lok Sabha election from Allahabad in 1984. However, amidst allegations in the Bofors scandal, Bachchan, then an actor-turned-politician, resigned from his parliamentary seat. Reports indicate that Rajiv Gandhi was deeply disappointed and subsequently stopped communicating with Amitabh Bachchan, which led to a strain in their families’ relationship.
