Telangana's Forests Minister Konda Surekha has triggered a massive controversy with her allegations against Bharat Rashtra Samithi leader KT Rama Rao – linking him with the divorce of actors Naga Chaitanya and Samantha Ruth Prabhu, drugs and blackmail. Her comments have drawn a sharp response from Naga Chaitanya's father, veteran Telugu actor Nagarjuna Akkineni, who said her remarks are "completely irrelevant and false" and demanded that she withdraws them.
"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," read a rough translation of his post on X, formerly Twitter.
"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.
Mr Rao has not commented on the matter but his party leader and former minister Harish Rao Thanneeru has demanded an unconditional apology from the Congress leader.
In a scathing attack on KT Rama Rao, son of former Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao, Ms Surekha said he was the reason why many actresses left the film industry and married early. KT Rama Rao, she claimed, blackmailed film personalities after getting them addicted to drugs.
She also said that she suspected that the BRS leader was behind a series of offensive posts against her.
The Congress leader had faced abuse online after a photo showing BJP leader and Medak MP Raghunandan Rao placing a garland around her neck at a programme. She accused BRS leaders of using the incident to demean her using her gender.
Naga Chaitanya, who parted ways with Samantha Ruth Prabhu two years ago, got engaged to actor Sobhita Dhulipala in August.
