Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) working president KT Rama Rao (KTR) has filed a Rs 100 crore defamation suit against Telangana minister Konda Surekha on Tuesday, October 22. The suit comes in the backdrop of Surekha alleging that KTR was a drug addict and responsible for the divorce of actors Naga Chaitanya and Samantha.

“For far too long, these attacks & attempts to indulge in character assassination through whisper campaigns and social media have gone unchecked, but not anymore,” KTR said.

“I hope this lawsuit serves as a lesson to those who think they can spread cheap rhetoric in the name of political criticism,” he added.

On October 3, Forests and Environment minister Konda Surekha made derogatory remarks against KTR. She alleged that the BRS working president was blackmailing film personalities.

Before filing the lawsuit, the former minister had sent a legal notice asking Konda Surekha to issue an apology and withdraw her remarks. However, the minister doubled down on the BRS leader.

Earlier actor Nagarjuna, who is also the father of Naga Chaitanya, filed a petition in the Hyderabad City civil court under Section 356 (defamation) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) against the minister.

While the minister apologised to Samantha and withdrew her remarks speculating the reasons behind the divorce, she did not retract her statements against KTR and Nagarjuna.