Telangana minister’s comments on Naga Chaitanya-Samantha divorce sparks huge controversy

Hyderabad: Telangana minister Konda Surekha sparked a massive controversy on Wednesday, after she blamed BRS working president, K T Rama Rao, for the divorce of Tollywood actors Naga Chaitanya and Samantha Prabhu.

Her comments drew sharp reactions from the film industry and turned into a full-blown political row within hours.

KTR sent the environment minister a legal notice demanding an unconditional and open apology and warned her of legal consequences, including criminal cases, if she failed to retract her comments within 24 hours.

“Just for political mileage, you used my name and allegations. You are even resorting to character assassination of women film actors. Being a minister, you abused your position. You even made allegations on phone tapping, which are nowhere connected,” KTR said in his legal notice while also alleging that the minister’s comments were part of a calculated plan to defame him.

Veteran Tollywood actor and Chaitanya’s father, Akkineni Nagarjuna also strongly condemned the minister’s comments which he said were all false. “As a woman in a responsible position, your comments and accusations against our family are completely irrelevant and false,” Nagarjuna wrote on his official ‘X’ handle, urging the minister to withdraw her comments immediately. “I strongly condemn the comments of the minister…Don’t use the lives of movie stars who stay away from politics to criticise your opponents. Please respect other people’s privacy…I am condemning the statement in the strongest possible terms,” Nagarjuna wrote.

His wife, Amala Akkineni also lashed out at the “woman minister” for “conjuring evil fiction allegations, preying on decent citizens as fuel for a political war”. “This is really shameful. If leaders lower themselves into the gutter and behave like criminals, what will happen to our country?” she added. Tagging Congress leaders Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi in her post on ‘X’ Amala wrote: “Mr Rahul Gandhiji, if you believe in human decency, please restrain your politicians and make your minister retract her venomous statements with an apology to my family. Protect the citizens of this country.”

Other BRS leaders, including Satyavathi Rathod, Malaoth Kavitha and Tula Uma, also condemned Konda Surekha’s comments and said that they would file a defamation case for her baseless allegations. Borrowing from the former Prime Minister of the UK, Margaret Thatcher, who once famously said: If they attack you personally, it means they have not a single political argument left, former T Harish Rao also demanded an unconditional apology from the minister.

Earlier in the day, KTR had denied the allegations about BRS workers being responsible for online trolling of Konda Surekha. “Surekha is saying that she was being trolled and abused in a derogatory manner on social media. But the same minister insulted other women and is now making a hue and cry over this,” KTR told the media during an informal chat. “She even accused me of tapping phones of some actresses and said that it caused emotional trauma to the families. But we too have families and comments like these affect our families as well,” he added.

Meanwhile, others from the film fraternity also took objection to the minister’s comments. National award-winning actor Prakash Raj wrote: “How is it that you look down upon women who act in films?”

Courtesy : TOI

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