Cobrapost sting operation: Saumya Tandon says 'approached for endorsing political party many times'

Twitterati was left shocked on Tuesday when as many as 36 Bollywood and television celebrities, including Sonu Sood, Shreyas Talpade, Jackie Shroff, Sunny Leone and Vivek Oberoi, were allegedly caught in a sting operation carried out by Cobrapost for agreeing to promote a political party's agenda on their social media pages in exchange for money.

Only four celebrities - Vidya Balan, Arshad Warsi, Raza Murad and Saumya Tandon - refused to accept money from the Cobrapost team. Many Twitter users hailed Saumya and others as real heroes.

Now, the Bhabi Ji Ghar Par Hai actress Saumya has opened up about the same. Speaking to Janta Ka Reporter, Saumya said, "Well, in my 12 years of career in the entertainment industry, there have been many times that I have been approached for either endorsing a political party especially closer to the elections or to rally for a particular candidate or talk about a particular party on social media or go attend their parties. I have never done that. I will never do that."

The actress, who embraced motherhood recently and is currently on maternity leave, further claimed that she would never sell herself for money.

"Unless and until I truly believe in the person or the party because there are a lot of things that I do for money, but this is something I will never do for money. Because I feel that this is far more serious and it has far greater implications and I would never sell myself for money on these kinds of things. If I have to really earn money, I would rather do a role, you know, or a project which is not of national importance or something which has serious consequences. So, I have always stood by it and I will stand by it," she said.

Talking about other celebrities who had succumbed to the offer by the Cobrapost team, Saumya aka Anita Bhabhi of Bhabi Ji Ghar Par Hai said, "It's their personal choice. I am nobody to comment or pass judgement on them. But I know for me, I wouldn't support an issue, person or political party for money. I would only support them if I truly believe in them. I can support an initiative irrespective of the political party that it belongs to if I believe in it. So, I would support something only if I believe in it."