Hyderabad, Oct 3 (IANS): Popular Tollywood actor Akkineni Nagarjuna on Thursday filed a defamation suit against Telangana’s Forests and Environment Minister Konda Surekha for her comments on the divorce of his son Naga Chaitanya and Samantha Ruth Prabhu.

Nagarjuna filed the petition in a city court under section 356 of BNS.

Naga Chaitanya shared the first page of the petition on 'X'.

Surekha's comments made on Wednesday during an interaction with media persons evoked strong reactions from Samantha, Naga Chaitanya, his family members and film personalities.

Nagarjuna had asked the minister not to use the lives of movie stars who stay away from politics to criticise her opponents.

“I strongly condemn the comments of the Honorable Minister Mrs. Konda Surekha. Don't use the lives of movie stars who stay away from politics to criticise your opponents. Please respect other people's privacy,” Nagarjuna posted on ‘X’.

“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,” he added.

The minister had blamed Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) working president K. T. Rama Rao for the divorce.

Samantha had issued a statement clarifying that her divorce was with mutual consent and amicable.

She urged the minister not to trivialise her journey and to be responsible and respectful of individuals’ privacy.

Konda Surekha later posted on 'X' that she was withdrawing her comments.

The minister said that her comments were not meant to hurt her sentiments but to question a leader's belittling of women.

Though Rama Rao issued a legal notice asking the minister to retract her statement and apologise, she said she was standing by her comments about the BRS leader.