Hyderabad/IBNS: Telangana minister Konda Surekha has apologised to actress Samantha Ruth Prabhu and her ex-husband, actor Naga Chaitanya, for claiming Bharat Rashtriya Samithi (BRS) leader KT Rama Rao was behind the divorce of the power couple.

Facing massive public ire and criticism from the former couple, Surekha apologised to the actor but did not spare KTR.

"There is no question of leaving KTR, he must apologize to me," she said.

Surekha had alleged KTR tapped several actresses' phones and used their weaknesses to blackmail them.

KTR's phone tapping and blackmailing were behind the divorce of Samantha and Naga Chaitanya, the minister had alleged.

Surekha said he was the reason why many actresses left the film industry and married early. KTR, she claimed, blackmailed film personalities after getting them addicted to drugs.

She also said that she suspected the BRS leader was behind a series of offensive posts against her.

Her comments triggered a sharp response from Naga Chaitanya's father, veteran Telugu actor Nagarjuna Akkineni, who said her remarks were "completely irrelevant and false" and demanded the withdrawal of the same.

"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 criticize your opponents. Please respect other people's privacy," read a rough translation of his post 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.

Samntha also hit back at the controversy urging her name to be "kept out of the politics battles".

"My divorce is a personal matter and I request that you refrain from speculating about it... To clarify: my divorce was mutual consent and amicable, with no political conspiracy involved," she wrote.

Naga Chaitanya, who parted ways with Samantha Ruth Prabhu three years ago, got engaged to actress Sobhita Dhulipala in August this year.