Actor Nagarjuna on Thursday filed a complaint against Telangana Minister and Congress leader Konda Surekha over her remarks on the divorce of his son and actor Naga Chaitanya and actress Samantha Ruth Prabhu.
Nagarjuna has filed a defamation case against Surekha in the Nampally court under section 356 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
In his complaint, a copy of which was shared by son Naga Chaitanya on his social media, Nagarjuna has alleged that the minister's remarks damaged his family's reputation.
"The statement was made with the malicious intent of conveying falsehoods to the public at large, intending to cause harm to the complainant and his family reputation for political gain and sensationalism..." the complaint said.
"The above actions constitute a criminal offence..." it added.
Both Naga Chaitanya and Samantha Ruth Prabhu also spoke out against the minister, and said their decision to separate was mutual.
Surekha had blamed the opposition BRS leader K T Rama Rao for the divorce of actors.
Earlier today, the minister, who faced flak for her remarks, withdrew her comments that had prompted the Telugu cinema industry to rally behind their colleagues.
Several cine personalities such as Chiranjeevi, Nagarjuna, junior NTR, Venkatesh, Prakash Raj and Khushbu hit out at the minister for her remarks.
As the row seemed to get bigger, the Congress' Telangana unit urged the cinema industry to put an end to the matter, citing Surekha withdrawing her controversial remarks.
Speaking to mediapersons, Surekha said she had to take the names of the actors after she became emotional over the comments made by the Rama Rao, the BRS Working president, about her.
"I had to criticise him (Rama Rao). I do not have any personal animosity towards anyone. Taking the name of a family was inadvertent. I felt really bad after seeing her tweet (Samantha's Instagram). Last night itself, I posted a message unconditionally withdrawing my comments," Surekha said.
Earlier, Nagarjuna had strongly condemned the minister's remarks asking her "not to use lives of movie stars who stay away from politics to criticise your opponents".
Meanwhile, Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) president B Mahesh Kumar Goud 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film fraternity to put an end to the issue after "controversy" erupted following the minister's remarks, saying she had withdrawn her statement which had "pained" them.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 Surekha over the issue and sought an explanation.
Goud also urged the Congress leaders and ministers to be careful while speaking.
