Mumbai: Bollywood actor Preity Jinta on Tuesday, slammed the Congress’ Kerala unit after the latter accused her of getting a Rs 18 crore loan from New India Cooperative Bank written off, in return for giving her social bank accounts to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
In reply to the Congress’ message, Preity Zinta accused the party of indulging in ‘vile politics’. She added that the loan she took from the bank was paid back close to 10 years ago. The party, however, clarified that it just shared the information as reported by a media organisation.
What the Congress’ Kerala unit wrote on X
Taking to X, the party wrote, “She gave her social media accounts to BJP and got 18 cr written off, and the bank collapsed last week… Depositors are on the streets for their money.” Hitting back at the party, Preity Zinta asserted that she operated her social media accounts herself and accused the Congress of spreading fake news.
“No, I operate my social media accounts myself, and shame on you for promoting FAKE NEWS! No one wrote off anything or any loan for me. I’m shocked that a political party or their representative is promoting fake news & indulging in vile gossip & click baits using my name & images (sic),” she wrote.
The actor added, “For the record, a loan was taken and FULLY PAID BACK – over 10 years ago. Hope this clarifies and helps so there are no misunderstandings in the future.” Later, the Kerala unit of the Congress added a note saying, “Preity Zinta has clarified from her Twitter handle that it is fake”.
‘So much misinformation going around’
Later, she also slammed journalist Sucheta Dalal, one of the founders of Moneylife, which was among the first to report the alleged write-off of the loan. “So much misinformation going around but thank god for social media and thank god for X ! All through my career I have seen so many so respected journalists get so many stories completely wrong & never have the decency to correct the story or apologize,” she wrote.
She further said, “I have also gone to court and spent a tonne of money fighting cases that go on & on & on. I think it’s time we start holding them responsible right here so there is some accountability in the future. I’m definitely going to start naming all these journalists that write articles without following up or investigating the stories.”
