Hyderabad, Oct 23 : Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) working president K. T. Rama Rao has sent a defamation notice to Union Minister of State for Home Bandi Sanjay Kumar for saying that he takes drugs and is involved in phone tapping

Rama Rao's counsel sent a legal notice to Bandi Sanjay, demanding an unconditional apology within seven days.

The MoS has also been asked to desist from engaging in any further malicious or frivolous acts against Rama Rao or his family members.

The notice says that if Bandi Sanjay fails to comply with the demand, Rama Rao will be constrained to initiate legal action against him.

The notice refers to the statement made by Bandi Sanjay during a press conference on October 19 that KTR consumes drugs and that he committed act of phone tapping when he was the minister and that his father K. Chandrasekhar Rao was charged with phone tapping.

The BRS working president said the allegations were made with malafide intention to tarnish his reputation.

The notes cite the statement made by the MoS. The BJP leader had said that KTR's parents should come and swear that their son does not consume drugs. 'If you fail to come and make such a promise in the temple, you are useless and you are not even born a human being,' the notice quoted the minister as saying.

Bandi Sanjay had also called KTR an 'uncultured person'.

This is the second legal notice sent by KTR to his political rivals. He had earlier sent a legal notice to Telangana Minister for Forest and Environment Konda Surekha for holding him responsible for the divorce of actor Naga Chaitanya from Samantha Ruth Prabhu.

As Konde Surekha refused to apologise and reiterated her allegations, KTR filed a Rs 100 crore defamation suit against her.

KTR had posted on 'X' on Tuesday that he would not keep quiet over the attempts for his character assassination.

'I've taken a firm stand against baseless allegations and cowardly personal attacks on my character. I have filed a Rs 100 crore defamation suit against Minister Konda Surekha garu for her malicious and cheap comments. For far too long, these attacks & attempts to indulge in character assassination through whisper campaigns and social media have gone unchecked, but not anymore,' KTR wrote.

'As a public representative, I've always prioritised people's issues over personal vendettas, but it's time to draw a line. I hope this lawsuit serves as a lesson to those who think they can spread cheap rhetoric in the name of political criticism. I am confident that truth will prevail in the court,' he added.

/IANS