Telangana’s Forest and Environment Minister Konda Surekha. File
| Photo Credit: Mohd Arif
Hours after Konda Surekha, Telangana Minister for Forest and Environment and Endowments, made disparaging remarks against prominent film personalities, including Samantha Ruth Prabhu, Nagarjuna Akkineni, and Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leader K.T. Rama Rao on Wednesday (October 2, 2024), members of the Telugu film fraternity came together to vehemently condemn her statements.
Early on Thursday (October 3, 2024), addressing the media, the Congress Minister withdrew her slanderous remarks that linked KTR to the divorce of actors Naga Chaitanya and Samantha Ruth Prabhu.
Actors Nagarjuna, Amala, Naga Chaitanya and Akhil Akkineni were quick to condemn Konda Surekha’s remarks through their social media handles. Samantha, too, condemned her statements and requested that her personal life be kept away from politics.
Several prominent Telugu film personalities also reacted to the remarks made by Telangana Minister Konda Surekha against Samantha Ruth Prabhu and Akkineni family. While some of them took the name of the Minister, some did not while expressing their views.
Taking to X (formerly Twitter), NTR Jr. said that people holding responsible positions, like the Minister, must maintain dignity and respect for privacy and that they will not sit quietly while others make baseless allegations.
Actor Sudheer Babu said that Ms. Surekha did not just insult women, but she has disrespected the entire industry that brings pride to Telangana. He added that it is time to shift focus from gossip to governance.
Actor Varun Tej Konidela strongly condemned the harsh remarks by Ms. Surekha. He said that targeting a family, especially speaking ill of a woman is unacceptable.
Actor Mahesh Babu said that as a father of a daughter, as a husband to a wife and as son to a mother, he was deeply anguished by the unacceptable remarks and language used by a woman minister on another woman.
Actor Nani stated on X that it is not okay for someone in such a respectable position to talk such utter baseless rubbish in front of the media and think that it is okay. “We all should condemn such practice which will reflect poorly on our society,” he added.
Actor Chiranjeevi said that no one should stoop to the level to score political points by dragging unconnected people, and more so women, into political slugfest and make distasteful fictional allegations. Venkatesh Daggubati said that public figures have an ethical duty to maintain dignity in public discourse.
Voice of Women initiate petition
Meanwhile, Voice of Women, the support group for women and allied media in Telugu cinema, also vehemently condemned the remarks and had initiated a petition on www.change.org on Wednesday night, urging Ms. Surekha to retract her statement and issue an apology to Samantha, the Akkineni family and other women of the film industry whom she had mentioned. Ms. Surekha’s remarks were also condemned by several Voice of Women members, including Suma Kanakala, Jhansi, director Nandini Reddy and producer Swapna Dutt.
Published – October 03, 2024 12:06 pm IST
