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‘Silence of Rahul Gandhi...': Union minister reacts to Telangana minister's Naga-Samantha Prabhu divorce remarks
Naga-Samantha divorce: Ashwini Vaishnaw alleged that silence of Rahul Gandhi and top Congress leaders shows they support Konda Surekha's remarks.
Naga Chaitanya-Samantha Prabhu divorce row: Union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has come out strongly against Telangana minister Konda Surekha's remarks linking Bharat Rashtra Samithi leader KT Rama Rao with the divorce of actors Naga Chaitanya and Samantha Ruth Prabhu. Ashwini Vaishnaw also questioned the “silence” of top Congress leaders such as Rahul Gandhi over the development, alleging that it showed the Congress's “anti-women” attitude.
“The statements by a Minister in the Telangana Government slandering the character of leading film personalities are appalling and signify the anti-woman mindset of the Congress. At the same time, it shows how this Party views the entertainment industry, which is the pride of India,” said Ashwini Vaishnaw in a post on X.
Stating that there is no place for such discourse in society, the Union minister said, “Silence of Mr. Rahul Gandhi and the top Congress leadership shows they support such remarks.”
Bharatiya Janata Party leader N Ramchander Rao has termed Konda Surekha's remarks “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.
Meanwhile, KTR hit out at the Congress minister with a legal notice threatening legal action, including defamation and criminal cases for her allegations. KTR also demanded a public apology from within 24 hours from Surekha.
Read: Who is Telangana minister Konda Surekha and what did she say on Samantha Prabhu's divorce?
Amid widespread backlash over her comments on the divorce of celebrity couple Naga Chaitanya and Samantha Ruth Prabhu, Konda Surekha apologised to the actors and their families, but maintained her accusations against KTR.
Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) president B Mahesh Kumar Goud on Thursday 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 further said he had spoken to the minister 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.
Actress Kushboo Sundar termed the remark as an “absolute disgrace to womanhood” and said, "a person in a responsible position cannot make such baseless, appalling and degrading statements about my industry, my place of worship".
