Actor Preity Zinta has refuted claims that a bank waived off a loan of Rs 18 crore in exchange for political favors to the BJP, calling them "vile gossip." In a post on X, she clarified that the loan in question had been completely repaid a decade ago and criticized the Kerala Congress for spreading "fake news." Preity Zinta was reacting to a post by the Kerala Congress handle, which accused her of handing over "her social media accounts to the BJP" in exchange for having Rs 18 crore written off by the New India Co-operative Bank."Depositors are on the streets for their money," the Kerala Congress said in its post.Responding to the post, Preity Zinta, on X 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. 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 Preity Zinta’s response, the Congress party thanked her for the clarification and stated that they were "willing to accept mistakes if any were made." However, they also cited reports that mentioned Preity Zinta and alleged that her loan was "waived off without following due procedures." Additionally, Congress expressed solidarity with the affected depositors.A report claimed that Preity Zinta’s Rs 18 crore loan was allegedly "written off" without adhering to proper recovery procedures.The New India Co-operative Bank recently gained attention after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) imposed a six-month restriction on deposit withdrawals and prohibited the issuance of new loans. The central bank took this action due to supervisory concerns and the bank’s fragile liquidity situation.In a recent development, the RBI provided some relief to depositors by permitting withdrawals of up to Rs 25,000 starting from February 27.