MUMBAI: Actor Rakul Preet Singh lashed out at Telangana Minister Konda Surekha for allegedly using her name in a speech, and asked the Congress leader not to use her name for gaining “political mileage.”
Taking to social media platform X on Thursday, Rakul Preet shared a long note. She said it pains to hear “baseless and vicious rumours” being spread about women of her fraternity. The ‘Yaariyan’ actor also stated that what is more “disheartening” is the fact that the remarks were made by another woman, in a responsible position.
This comes after Telangana Minister K Surekha linked former Minister and BRS leader KTR to the divorce of Samantha and Naga Chaitanya, accusing KTR of tapping the phones of actors and blackmailing them. She accused KTR of being involved in drug-related parties and phone tapping and blackmailing female actors. Surekha also made comments on Rakul Preet’s marriage.
“Telugu Film Industry is known worldwide for its creativity and professionalism. I’ve had a great journey in this beautiful industry and still very much connected. It pains to hear such baseless and vicious rumours being spread about the women of this fraternity. What’s more disheartening is the fact that this is being done by another woman who’s supposedly in a very responsible position. For the sake of dignity, we choose to remain silent but it is misconstrued as our weakness”, Rakul Preet stated in her post.
Telugu Film Industry is known worldwide for its creativity and professionalism. I’ve had a great journey in this beautiful industry and still very much connected.
It pains to hear such baseless and vicious rumours being spread about the women of this fraternity. What’s more…
— Rakul Singh (@Rakulpreet) October 3, 2024
She also asked the Telangana Congress minister not to use her name in a “malicious way” to gain “political mileage”. “I am absolutely apolitical and have nothing to do with any person/political party, whatsoever. I urge to stop using my name in a malicious way to gain political mileage. Artists and creative personalities should be kept out of political slug fest and their names should not be used to grab headlines by linking them with fictitious stories,” the note further stated.
On Wednesday, Konda Surekha told reporters, “It is KT Rama Rao because of whom (actress) Samantha’s divorce happened. He was a minister at that time and used to tap the phones of the actresses and then find their weaknesses to blackmail them. He used to 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’s remarks sparked massive controversy, with several BRS leaders as well as superstar and Naga Chaitanya’s father, Nagarjuna Akkineni, condemning the remarks. Nagarjuna Akkineni filed a defamation case against the Telangana Minister following her remarks regarding the divorce between his son Naga Chaitanya and actress Samantha Ruth Prabhu. The complaint has been filed under section 356 Bhartiya Nayay Sanhita in the district court of Hyderabad.
On Wednesday, Nagarjuna Akkineni condemned Surekha’s remarks, saying that she should not use the lives of movie stars to criticise her opponents, and urged her to respect the privacy of others. Samantha also reacted to the remarks and said that her divorce was a “personal matter.”
Following widespread criticism, Konda Surekha clarified her remarks were meant to question KT Rama Rao for “belittling women” and not to hurt Samantha Prabhu’s sentiments. She stated that she would “unconditionally” retract her comments if Samantha or her fans were offended by them. (ANI)