Telangana’s Environment and Forests Minister, Konda Surekha, has made sensational allegations against former minister KT Rama Rao (KTR), the working president of the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS). In a press conference held today, Minister Surekha accused KTR of influencing the personal lives of film actresses, explicitly pointing to the separation of actors Naga Chaitanya and Samantha Ruth Prabhu as an example.
The Minister went on to claim that KTR had ‘asked’ for Samantha Ruth Prabhu in return for not demolishing Nagarjuna’s N-Convention center, and that demand led to differences in the Akkineni family and eventually resulted in divorce between the young film stars.
The allegations did not go unchallenged. In response to these explosive claims, veteran actor and father of Naga Chaitanya, Nagarjuna Akkineni, issued a statement condemning Konda Surekha’s remarks. He described her comments as ‘completely irrelevant and false,’ urging politicians to keep the personal lives of film stars out of political discourse.
Ms. Surekha’s comments have ignited a fierce debate across political and entertainment circles in Telangana. She alleged that KTR’s actions were not just a matter of personal influence but part of a larger strategy involving blackmail and coercion within the film industry.
While KTR has not publicly responded to the Minister’s allegations, the political atmosphere suggests that legal battles could ensue.
The accusation comes amidst ongoing political tensions and follows previous claims of unauthorized surveillance and data manipulation by the BRS when in power. A government inquiry related to the previous government’s phone-tapping activities is ongoing.