The verbal sparring between the ruling Congress and opposition BRS turned ugly after Forest Minister Konda Surekha made a personal attack on BRS working president KT Rama Rao which not only bordered on character assassination but also dragged the name of a prominent South Indian star through the mud.

Congress Minister Konda Surekha was miffed after she was trolled in the social media over a photograph of her with BJP MP M Raghunandan Rao. She accused the BRS social media cells of trolling her. Today hitting back at the BRS, she said: “KTR is 100 per cent responsible for Samantha Naga Chaitanya’s divorce.”

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She also said that because of KTR many heroines were leaving films and getting married early. She accused him of making them habituated with drugs and blackmailing them. Konda Surekha’s comments were condemned widely.

BRS working president KT Rama Rao reminded that the minister had made similar comments in the past accusing him of tapping phones of Tollywood heroines. He said he had nothing to do with the social media trolling of Konda Surekha and implored her to wonder how the women in his family feel when people like her make such comments.

He also said women ministers like Konda Surekha and Seethakka need to clean the mouth of chief minister A Revanth Reddy using phenyl. BRS leaders said the badmouthing was done to divert attention from the demolitions taking place in the state.

Konda Surekha’s comments were condemned by Naga Chaitanya’s father and actor Akkineni Nagarjuna. “I strongly condemn the comments of the Hon’ble minister, Ms Konda Surekha. Don’t use the lives of movie stars who stay away from politics to criticize your opponents. Please respect other people’s privacy. As a woman in a responsible position your comments and accusations against our family are completely irrelevant and false. I request you to withdraw your comments immediately,” said Nagarjuna Akkineni in a post.