Amitabh Bachchan said on Wednesday that he will not host an event to commemorate a central government anniversary, but only doing a small segment on the Beti Bachao Beti Padhao scheme, even as the Congress Party launched a scathing attack on the film star whose name allegedly appears in the Panama Papers leak.
Earlier, Congress lashed out at Bollywood icon Amitabh Bachchan, who is set to host ‘Zara Muskura Do’, the special function organized by government on completion of Narendra Modi’s two year in power. Congress raked up the controversy surrounding Panama Papers, where Bachchan’s name appeared in the list of Indians who have stashed their money abroad. They have accused Bachchan of increasing his proximity with the ruling regime to influence the probing agencies.
“It is legally, ethically and morally wrong to have ‘Big B’ as the host of Zara Muskura Do event. By having Bachchan as host, what message is the government trying to send?” said Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala. He further recalled the Panama controversy where Bachchan’s name propped up. The legendary actor was alleged to be the director of numerous offshore companies in Panama Islands and British Virgin Islands, by certain publications. The Panama papers showed Bachchan c client of Mossack Fonseca, the firm which offers its services to people across the nation who want to float offshore entities in tax havens.
Reacting to the Congress charges, Bachchan said, “I am doing only a segment of the programme as the brand ambassador of the Beti Bachao Beti Padhao campaign. It is for the government to decide.”
Bachchan’s name had cropped up in the reports as part of a global expose of International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) and over 100 global media organisations, based on millions of leaked documents of the Panama law firm Mossak Fonseca.
