Amid the large backlash surrounding her comment on the divorce of movie star couple Naga Chaitanya and Samantha Ruth Prabhu, Telangana Minister Konda Surekha apologised to the actors and their households, however didn’t again down from her allegations towards Bharat Rashtra Samithi chief KT Rama Rao. She additionally harassed that Mr Rao, often known as KTR, should apologise.
Ms Surekha has alleged that KTR, a former minister, tapped the telephones of actresses and blackmailed them. In this connection, she mentioned he was behind the divorce of Samantha Ruth Prabhu and Naga Chaitanya. “It is KT Rama Rao due to whom (actress) Samantha’s divorce occurred… He was a minister at the moment and used to faucet the telephones of the actresses after which discover their weaknesses to blackmail them… He used to make them drug addicts after which do that… Everyone is aware of this, Samantha, Naga Chaitanya, his household — everyone is conscious that such a factor occurred,” she mentioned.
The remarks sparked a large row. Both Samantha Ruth Prabhu and Naga Chaitanya are prime actors. Naga Chaitanya additionally belongs to the Akkineni household, among the many most influential households within the Telugu movie business.
Nagarjuna Akkineni, his father and veteran actor, responded sharply to the minister’s remarks. “I strongly condemn the feedback of the Honorable Minister Mrs. Konda Surekha. Don’t use the lives of film stars who avoid politics to criticize your opponents. Please respect different individuals’s privateness. As a girl in a accountable place, your feedback and accusations towards our household are utterly irrelevant and false. I request you to withdraw your feedback instantly,” he mentioned.
Naga Chaitanya and Samanth Ruth Prabhu responded too.
Naga Chaitanya mentioned the choice of a divorce is “some of the painful and unlucky life selections one has to make”. “After loads of thought, a mutual determination was made by me and my former partner to half methods. It was a choice made in peace, owing to our totally different life objectives and within the curiosity of transferring ahead with respect and dignity as two mature adults. However, there have been varied baseless and utterly ridiculous gossips on the matter up to now. I’ve remained silent all this whereas out of deep respect for my earlier partner in addition to my household,” he mentioned.
“Today, the declare made by Minister Konda surekha garu will not be solely false, it’s completely ridiculous and unacceptable. Women need to be supported and revered. Taking benefit and exploiting the non-public life selections of celebrities for the sake of media headlines is shameful,” he added.
Samantha Ruth Prabhu mentioned it takes loads of braveness and power for a lady to outlive in a glamorous business the place ladies are as a rule handled as props. “Konda Surekha Garu, I’m happy with what this journey turned me into please do not trivialise it. I hope you realise that your phrases carry vital weight as a minister. I implore you to be accountable and respectful of people’ privateness. My divorce is a private matter, and I request that you simply chorus from speculating about it. Our option to maintain issues non-public does not invite misrepresentation,” she mentioned in a social media publish. “To make clear: my divorce was mutual consent and amicable, with no political conspiracy concerned. Could you please maintain my identify out of political battles? I’ve all the time remained non-political and want to proceed doing so,” she added.
Top actors, together with Chiranjeevi, Jr NTR, Allu Arjun and Nani, slammed the minister’s remarks.
Amid the backlash, Ms Surekha earlier responded to Samantha Ruth Prabhu and mentioned she didn’t intend to harm her sentiments.
“My feedback are supposed to query a pacesetter’s belittling of ladies and to not damage your (Samantha Prabhu) sentiments. The manner you’ve grown up with self-power will not be solely an admiration for me but in addition a super…If you or your followers are offended by my feedback, I unconditionally retract my feedback. Don’t assume in any other case,” she mentioned.
Former minister KTR has, in the meantime, despatched a defamation discover to Ms Surekha. He has accused the ruling Congress of “disgusting and nauseating politics” and requested its chief Rahul Gandhi to ship the minister to a psychological well being specialist.