Vijay Mallya is my father's friend: Congress social media head Divya Spandana

• Divya Spandana said Vijay Mallya is her father's friend.
• The Congress social media head rubbished claims of her 2010 Hong Kong trip being sponsored by Mallya.
• She slammed news channel for the "misogynistic" attack.

Former actress and now Congress social media head Divya Spandana aka Ramya has responded to the allegations of having a connection with the beleaguered business tycoon, Vijay Mallya.

Divya accepted her past liaison with Mallya but questioned the fairness of being targeted for her old connection with a man, who is accused of money laundering now.

"This was just a bullying tactic to deflect attention from the Piyush Goel controversy. What has my past association with Mr. Mallya got to do with the transgression of which he is guilty now? I do not endorse his misdemeanors, but at the same time, I don't disown my past association with him," The Asian Age quoted Divya as saying.

One leading news channel recently targeted Divya claiming that Mallya had financed the Congress' social media chief's Hong Kong trip in 2010. Divya in her defense rubbished the claims.

"First of all, I wasn't even in politics in 2010. I was doing very well as an actress, earning enough to not only pay for my own holidays, but also for the holidays of many others. I don't know how this channel came to the conclusion that it was my first visit to Hong Kong or that it was funded by Mr. Mallya. In fact, I had visited Hong Kong on a number of occasions before that too," she said.

Divya further said that Mallya is her father's friend, but she doesn't support his alleged financial crimes. "I call him uncle. He is my father's friend. And I am not about to shrug that off. Does that mean I endorse his monetary misdemeanors? Not at all. I am completely in favor of him being tried for whatever financial irregularities he is accused of committing," she added.

Slamming the news channel, Divya said that it's a "misogynistic" attack on her to "deflect attention from actual issues". Former Lok Sabha MP, Divya has become a powerful driving force for the Congress party as far as social media is concerned. Ever since she took over the charge of the party's social media head, Rahul Gandhi's popularity on Twitter has grown manifolds.