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Under attack for her comments on the divorce of actor Samantha Ruth Prabhu and Naga Chaitanya, Telangana minister Konda Surekha on Thursday withdrew her remarks that triggered strong reactions from political leaders and the Telugu cinema industry with superstar Nagarjuna suing her for defamation.
Prabhu and Chaitanya criticised the minister for dragging their name for political gains by blaming opposition Bharat Rashtra Samithi leader KT Rama Rao for their divorce, which, they said, was a mutual and personal decision.
Surekha on Wednesday stirred up a major controversy by alleging that KTR was the reason behind Prabhu and Chaitanya's divorce in 2021.
Reacting strongly to her comments, many prominent personalities from the Telugu film industry criticised the Congress leader terming her comments derogatory.
Naga Chaitanya's father Akkineni Nagarjuna, who criticised the minister on Wednesday, has now filed a defamation case against Surekha in the Nampally court under section 356 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
In his complaint, a copy of which was shared by son Naga Chaitanya on his social media, Nagarjuna has alleged that the minister's remarks damaged his family's reputation.
Several cine personalities such as Chiranjeevi, junior NTR, Mahesh Babu, Vijay Devarakonda, Venkatesh, Prakash Raj and Khushbu hit out at 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seemed to get bigger, the Congress' Telangana unit urged the cinema industry to put an end to the matter as Surekha had withdrawn her controversial remarks.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 the 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".
"It was a decision made in peace, owing to our different life goals and in the interest of moving forward with respect and dignity as two mature adults...
"Today (Thursday), the claim made by minister Konda Surekha garu is not only false, it is absolutely ridiculous and unacceptable. Women deserve to be supported and respected. Taking advantage and exploiting the personal life decisions of celebrities for the sake of media headlines is shameful," he added.
Earlier, Nagarjuna strongly condemned the minister's remarks asking her "not to use lives of movie stars who stay away from politics to criticise your opponents".
The former couple also received support from fellow colleagues, including Allu Arjun, Chinmayi Sripada, and Nani.
Arjun condemned Surekha's remarks, terming them "baseless" and "derogatory".
Dragging personal lives into politics is a new low, said Jr NTR.
Nani, Samantha's co-star on films such as "Eega" and "Yeto Vellipoyindhi Manasu", said it's not okay for anyone in a respectable position to talk "utter baseless rubbish" in front of the media.
Mahesh Babu said he was extremely pained by the comments made by the minister on a fellow member of the fraternity.
"As a father of a daughter, as a husband to a wife and as son to a mother... I am deeply anguished by the unacceptable remarks and language used by a woman minister on another woman," the superstar said.
Prabhu's Khushi co-star Devarakonda wrote on X, “Just want to remind many politicians out there that we vote for them to look after us, to talk about infrastructure and investment , bring in jobs and prosperity, talk about health and improve education and facilities, help us grow..We cannot allow or be ok with this as people. Politics cannot get any lower. Enough.”
While Surekha apologised for dragging the former couple, she asserted she would not go back on the comments made against her by the BRS party on social media and demanded an apology from Rama Rao for those remarks.
On the legal notice sent by the BRS leader, Surekha said she would also proceed legally.
Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee president B Mahesh Kumar Goud requested the film fraternity to put an end to the issue after "controversy" erupted following the minister's remarks, saying she had withdrawn her statement which had "pained" them.
The TPCC chief said he had spoken to Surekha over the issue and sought an explanation.
Goud also urged the Congress leaders and ministers to be careful while speaking, a release from the party said.
Movie Artists Association president Vishnu Manchu in a statement on Thursday appealed to all leaders, politicians and people in positions of influence to refrain from using the names of actors and their families for political narratives or attention-seeking headlines.
"We, as a film fraternity, work hard to entertain and contribute to society, and it is my earnest request that personal lives be left out of public discourse," he said.
On behalf of the film industry, he requested that families be spared from such unwarranted and harmful attention.
"I personally will not be a mute spectator if anyone tries to harm my film fraternity. We will not tolerate any such abuse. We are united in this," Manchu said.