KTR issues legal notice to Konda Surekha, demands public apology

The notice follows Surekha's defamatory remarks against Rama Rao, including accusation of phone tapping during his tenure as a Minister and personal allegations against him.

Hyderabad: BRS working president KT Rama Rao served a legal notice to Minister Konda Surekha, demanding an immediate retraction of her recent statements and a public apology. He warned that if the Minister failed to apologise within 24 hours, he would initiate legal proceedings, including a defamation suit and relevant criminal cases.

The notice follows Surekha’s defamatory remarks against Rama Rao, including accusation of phone tapping during his tenure as a Minister and personal allegations against him.

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Condemning the Minister’s remarks, Rama Rao stated the allegations were false and were made with malicious intent to tarnish his reputation. He stated that Surekha’s claims were baseless and defamatory, with no supporting evidence. The comments were not only intended to defame him but also dragged unrelated individuals, such as film actors, into political discourse. Despite being a woman, the Minister was unfortunately resorting to character assassination of a female actor for political gain, he said, adding that Surekha was repeatedly making the same allegations for sometime, indicating a pre-planned conspiracy to defame him.

In a six-page legal notice, the BRS working president stressed that Surekha’s public comments, widely circulated in the media and on social media platforms, could easily mislead the public due to her position as a Minister. He emphasised the serious nature of her accusations, which include the controversial claim of phone tapping, stating that these baseless remarks were both irresponsible and damaging to his public image.

This was not the first instance of Surekha making such allegations against Rama Rao. She was served a notice earlier in April for making similar false claims ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. The Election Commission of India had issued a stern warning to Surekha in this regard. The BRS leader criticised Surekha for repeatedly making “malicious and untruthful statements” and urged her to refrain from further defamatory remarks.