Court orders Telangana minister to delete Naga-Samantha-divorce post linking KTR
A Telangana court has ordered Minister Konda Surekha to delete her social media posts accusing Bharat Rashtra Samithi leader KT Rama Rao of the divorce of actors Samantha Ruth Prabhu and Naga Chaitanya. The order was passed during the hearing of a ₹100 crore defamation lawsuit filed by Rao against Surekha. Earlier, Surekha, the current Minister for Forest and Environment in Telangana, had accused Rao of causing the actors' split in 2021 by allegedly tapping Prabhu's phones and blackmailing them.
Actors denounce minister's claims, file defamation case
Surekha went on record to say, "It is KT Rama Rao because of whom Samantha's divorce happened." She also claimed Rao "used to make them drug addicts and then do this." Both actors termed Surekha's allegations "absolutely ridiculous" and urged for privacy. Actor Akkineni Nagarjuna, father of Chaitanya, filed a defamation case against Surekha for sullying his family's name.
Minister later apologized for controversial remarks
After facing widespread criticism, Surekha apologized to the actors and their families. She called her comments "an unexpected slip of the tongue," and clarified that she had no personal animosity toward anyone. "I made an off-the-cuff remark. It was a slip of the tongue. I am disheartened to see the sharp reactions to my statement. I am taking back my words regarding what I said about the film industry," the minister said.
