Preity Zinta lambasts Kerala Congress for 'fake news'; Party asks her to furnish proof

After the X handle of the Kerala Congress tweeted that Preity Zinta "gave her social media accounts to BJP and got 18 Cr written off and the bank collapsed last week," the actress slammed them for "promoting fake news".

For context, the Kerala Congress' X handle was referring to a report in the financial news website Moneylife that mentions cases of financial irregularities and mismanagement on a large scale at the crisis-hit New India Cooperative Bank Ltd. 

The report says that corporate loans of a shockingly enormous sum, as high as Rs 25 crore, were sanctioned unbeknownst to branch managers, eventually rendering the loans into non-performing assets (NPA) owing to fund diversions.

Among the standout cases is the Rs 18 crore loan taken by Preity Zinta, which the report says was written off without adhering to the correct recovery processes. 

When the Kerala Congress brought this up on social media, Zinta issued a clarification and called out the tendency to spread misinformation.

She wrote: "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 and indulging in vile gossip and clickbait using my name and images. 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."

Following this, the Kerala Congress page wrote that they had "shared the news as reported by media outlets." Adding that they are "standing with the depositors who lost their savings," they asked Zinta to furnish proof to strengthen confirmation that the reports are false and voice her support for the depositors.