Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) working president KT Rama Rao, on Wednesday, October 3, sent a legal notice to Telangana’s Forests and Environment Minister Konda Surekha asking her to retract her defamatory remarks within 24 hours failing which he would initiate both civil and criminal proceedings, he said.
Earlier in the day, Minister Konda Surekha made wild and defamatory speculations about the reasons behind the divorce of actors Naga Chaitanya and Samantha Ruth Prabhu. She alleged that KTR was responsible for their divorce.
Surekha, who has been complaining of a cyber-bullying campaign against her by the BRS, alleged that KTR blackmailed film personalities.
KTR’s legal firm asked the minister to withdraw her statement and tender an unconditional public apology for tarnishing his reputation with a ‘malicious and defamatory act’. Konda Surekha was also asked to refrain from engaging in any further malicious or frivolous defamatory acts.
The notice states that due to a “vitriolic campaign”, their client was subjected to scandalous attacks with the sole motive of injuring his reputation.
“You, along with media houses, have conspired to malign our client’s reputation based on false information, assumptions, lies and frivolous allegations,” reads the notice.
The minister’s remarks were also condemned by Naga Chaitanya’s family. Akkineni Nagarjuna, Naga Chaitanya’s father, said, “I strongly condemn the comments of the Honorable Minister Mrs. Konda Surekha. Don't use the lives of movie stars who stay away from politics to criticize your opponents. Please respect other people's privacy.”
“As a woman in a responsible position, your comments and accusations against our family are completely irrelevant and false. I request you to withdraw your comments immediately,” he added.
Nagarjuna’s wife, Akkineni Amala wrote, “Shocked to hear a woman minister turn into a demon, conjuring evil fictions allegations, preying on decent citizens as fuel for a political war.”
“Madam Minister, do you rely and believe people with no decency to feed you utterly scandalous stories about my husband without an iota of shame or truth? This is really shameful. If leaders lower themselves into the gutter and behave like criminals, what will happen to our country?” she said.
Seeking Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s intervention, Amala said, “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.”