"Character assassination": BJP's Ramchander Rao condemns Konda Surekha's comments on Naga Chaitanya-Samantha divorce

Hyderabad (Telangana) [India], October 4 : Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader N Ramchander Rao has termed Telangana Minister Konda Surekha's remarks regarding the divorce of actors Naga Chaitanya and Samantha Ruth Prabhu "character assassination."
"Politics should not go beyond the limits. The language limit is very important. The language used by the minister is defamatory material. It is a character assassination," Ramchander Rao told ANI.
"The verbal exchanges by the political leaders crossing the limits are unfortunate. Because the defamation case has been filed, the result will be something different. Nonetheless, the political language should be within the parliamentary language limits and no one should cross the limits. Leaders of all the political parties should constrain the language," he added.
Naga Chaitanya's father, Nagarjuna Akkineni, has filed a defamation case against Surekha following her remarks. The complaint has been filed under Section 356 Bhartiya Nayay Sanhita in the district court of Hydrabad.
Ramchander Rao said that Nagarjuna has every right to file a defamation case against the Telangana Minister.
"I think it was his right to file a defamation case because the statement given by the minister of the state government, Konda Surekha, was highly objectionable," he said.
Konda Surekha had accused former Minister and BRS leader KT Rama Rao (KTR) of involvement in the divorce of Samantha and Naga Chaitanya, alleging that KTR tapped the phones of actors and blackmailed them.
On Wednesday, Konda Surekha told reporters, "It is because of KT Rama Rao that Samantha's divorce happened. He was a minister at the time and would tap the phones of actresses, exploit their weaknesses, and blackmail them. He made them drug addicts, and everyone, including Samantha, Naga Chaitanya, and his family, knows about it."
Actor Mahesh Babu also condemned Surekha's comments, writing on X, "As a father, husband, and son, I am deeply anguished by the unacceptable remarks made by a woman minister against another woman. Freedom of speech should not hurt others' sentiments. I strongly condemn the baseless comments and urge people in public roles to stop making the film industry a soft target. Women in our country and the film industry must be treated with respect and dignity."
Vijay Deverakonda also voiced his disapproval, stating, "Struggling to express my thoughts and feelings in decent language about today's politics and politicians. We vote for them to improve infrastructure, investment, jobs, health, and education, not for this kind of behaviour. Politics cannot get any lower. Enough."
Following the backlash, Konda Surekha clarified that her remarks were intended to criticise KT Rama Rao for "belittling women" and not to hurt Samantha Prabhu. She offered an "unconditional" retraction if her comments had offended Samantha or her fans.