Telangana Minister Konda Surekha faced criticism for her remarks about the divorce of actor Samantha Ruth Prabhu and Naga Chaitanya. She withdrew her comments on Thursday after facing strong reactions from political leaders and the Telugu cinema industry. Superstar Nagarjuna sued her for defamation in response to her remarks.
Prabhu and Chaitanya accused the minister of using their names for political gain by blaming opposition BRS leader KT Rama Rao for their divorce. They emphasised that their divorce was a mutual and personal decision.
Surekha alleged on Wednesday that KTR was the reason behind Prabhu and Chaitanya's divorce in 2021, sparking a major controversy.
In response to her comments, many prominent personalities from the Telugu film industry criticised the Congress leader, describing her comments as derogatory.
Naga Chaitanya's father Akkineni Nagarjuna, who criticised the minister on Wednesday, has filed a defamation case against Surekha in the Nampally court under section 356 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
Nagarjuna's complaint, shared by son Naga Chaitanya on social media, alleges that the minister's remarks damaged his family's reputation. Several cine personalities, including Chiranjeevi, Junior NTR, Mahesh Babu, Vijay Devarakonda, Venkatesh, Prakash Raj, and Khushbu, also criticised the minister for her remarks.
As the row seemed to get bigger, the Congress' Telangana unit urged the cinema industry to put an end to the matter as Surekha had withdrawn her controversial remarks.
Speaking to mediapersons, Surekha said she had to take the names of the actors after she became emotional over the comments made by Rama Rao, the BRS Working president, about her.
"I had to criticise him (Rama Rao). I do not have any personal animosity towards anyone. Taking the name of a family was inadvertent. I felt really bad after seeing her tweet (Samantha's Instagram). Last night itself, I posted a message unconditionally withdrawing my comments," Surekha said.
On her Instagram Story, Samantha wrote there was "no political conspiracy" behind her split with Chaitanya, which was announced in 2021. In his note shared on X, Chaitanya, son of top Telugu actor Nagarjuna Surekha's claims were "ridiculous".
Samantha implored the minister to be responsible and respectful of individuals' privacy.
"My divorce is a personal matter, and I request that you refrain from speculating about it. Our choice to keep things private doesn't invite misrepresentation." "To clarify: my divorce was mutual consent and amicable, with no political conspiracy involved. Could you please keep my name out of political battles? I have always remained non-political and wish to continue doing so," she wrote on Wednesday night.
Chaitanya recalled that the mutual decision was made by him and Samantha "after a lot of thought".
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