Hours after making a controversial and objectionable statement about Tollywood stars Samantha Ruth Prabhu and Naga Chaitanya's divorce, Telangana minister Konda Surekha issued an apology to the actress on social media.
After being slammed for her remarks, Surekha took to her X handle and wrote, "My comments are meant to question a leader's belittling of women and not to hurt your @Samanthaprabhu2 sentiments. The way you have grown up with self-power is not only an admiration for me, but also an ideal."
"If you or your fans are offended by my comments, I unconditionally retract my comments.. Don't think otherwise," she added.
What did Konda Surekha say about Samantha-Chaitanya?
Surekha was at the receiving end of severe backlash after she linked Bharat Rashtra Samiti Chief KT Rama Rao to Samantha and Chaitanya's divorce, during a media interaction. She claimed that KTR would tap the phones of actresses when he was a minister and blackmail them, and Samantha was one of them, and that led to her divorce with Chaitanya.
"He would make them drug addicts and then do this. Everyone knows this, Samantha, Naga Chaitanya, his family, everybody is aware that such a thing happened," Surekha said, inviting a defamation notice from KTR and heavy criticism from the actress and Chaitanya's family.
Keep me out of political battles: Samantha
After Surekha's remarks went viral, Samantha issued a hard-hitting statement, clarifying that the divorce was "mutual and amicable" and had no political twist to it.
"Could you please keep my name out of political battles? I have always remained non-political and wish to continue doing so," she said.
Naga Chaitanya called Surekha's statement ridiculous and shameful. "The claim made by Minister Konda Surekha garu is not only false, it is absolutely ridiculous and unacceptable. Women deserve to be supported and respected. Taking advantage and exploiting the personal life decisions of celebrities for the sake of media headlines is shameful," he said.
Nagarjuna, Jr NTR, Khusbhu Sundar, Nani and others also slammed Surekha for her tasteless remark.
