Kangana Ranaut mocks Jaya Bachchan’s ‘Nahi Bataungi’ reply at Election Commission protest

BJP MP Kangana Ranaut took a dig at Samajwadi Party MP Jaya Bachchan after a video showed Bachchan pushing away a reporter’s microphone and saying “Nahi bataungi” — “I won’t tell you” — during an opposition protest in Delhi on October 6, 2026. Ranaut shared the clip on Instagram Stories and joked that Bachchan had joined a demonstration but would not explain the point she wanted to make.

What happened in Jaya Bachchan’s viral video?

The exchange took place as members of the opposition INDIA bloc protested over the functioning of the Election Commission of India. A reporter asked Bachchan about a placard carried by Trinamool Congress MP Derek O’Brien that appeared to describe the Chief Election Commissioner’s office as a BJP office.

Bachchan told the reporter not to twist the matter. When he pressed her to explain what she meant, she pushed his microphone away. Asked again, she replied, “Nahi bataungi.” She later said she objected to the way the reporter had questioned O’Brien before walking away.

The distinction matters: the clip shows Bachchan refusing to explain that particular exchange about the placard. It does not, by itself, show that she was unwilling or unable to discuss the protest as a whole.

What did Kangana Ranaut say?

Ranaut reposted the video with a mocking Instagram Story. She framed Bachchan’s response as a protester declining to state her point when asked, ending her post with the words “nahi bataungi” and laughing emojis. The post turned a brief encounter with a reporter into a public exchange between two actors who now represent opposing political parties.

Ranaut is a BJP member of Parliament, while Bachchan represents the Samajwadi Party in the Rajya Sabha. Their political affiliations give Ranaut’s criticism a context beyond a disagreement over media etiquette: the party she represents is in government, and Bachchan was taking part in a protest by opposition lawmakers.

What was the opposition protesting?

Opposition MPs marched towards the Election Commission in Delhi and called for Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation. The demonstration followed reporting about objections by two election commissioners to a declaration added to the online version of Form 6, which is used for new voter enrolment. The lawmakers’ demands and criticism of the commission are political positions, not findings established by Bachchan’s video.

Bachchan did speak about the demonstration in a separate media interaction. She said she and other leaders would continue protesting for as long as they were physically able. Asked whether she regarded it as a fight to protect democracy and whether she believed the Election Commission was discriminatory, she answered affirmatively. When asked what message the gathering was sending, she said many leaders were conveying it and that she was among them.

Those comments provide context missing from the short clip Ranaut shared. Bachchan declined to answer one reporter’s repeated questions about a placard, but she did express support for the wider opposition protest elsewhere. Online reactions to the encounter have also differed: some viewers echoed Ranaut’s criticism, while others welcomed Bachchan’s refusal to continue the exchange.

The episode illustrates how a short, widely shared video can become the focus of a political argument. The immediate dispute was over a reporter’s question and Bachchan’s response; the demonstration itself concerned the opposition’s objections to the Election Commission.