Bollywood actress Preity Zinta slammed Congress for claiming the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) got New India Cooperative Bank to waive off her Rs 18 crore. She clarified that she fully paid back the money.
On Monday, the official X (Twitter) account of Kerala Congress 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."
Reacting to the post on Tuesday (February 25), Preity slammed the political party and wrote, "No I operate my social media accounts my self 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."
The actress 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."
Preity Zinta issues official statement
Through her legal team, Preity reportedly stated that the overdraft facility was taken with the bank more than 12 years ago and the loan amount was cleared 10 years back.
"More than 12 years ago, I had an overdraft facility with the New India Cooperative Bank. More than 10 years ago, I repaid in full the entire dues in respect of this overdraft facility, and the account stands closed," the statement read.
Preity's active social media presence
Off late, Preity has been quite active on social media, especially X. She frequently conducts interactive sessions on the microblogging platform.
A few days back, Preity shared her experience of interacting with AI chatbot Grok3 on X, describing it as both 'scary and fascinating'. In her post, she revealed that she spent over two hours in conversation with the AI, finding it so 'real and raw' that she momentarily forgot she was speaking to a machine.
However, her post sparked speculation, with some assuming it was a paid promotion. Addressing the skepticism in a follow-up post, the Kal Ho Naa Ho actress questioned the growing cynicism on social media.
"If one talks about their first chat with an AI bot, people presume it’s a paid promotion. If you appreciate your PM, you are a 'bhakt.' If you are a proud Hindu or Indian, then you are labeled 'Andh Bhakt'," she wrote.
Urging people to take a more open-minded approach, Preity added, "Let’s take people for who they are and not who we think they should be. Maybe we all need to take a chill pill and just be happy to communicate with each other."
Check out her post here:
Meanwhile, on the work front, Preity is all set to make her comeback with Lahore 1947, which also stars Sunny Deol and his son Karan Deol. The Rajkumar Santoshi directorial is backed by Aamir Khan Productions.
