Chennai: Will the election to Nadigar Sangam happen 23 June or not at MGR Janaki College in Adyar? This is the question doing the rounds in Kollywood.
Veteran actor and playwright S Ve Shekher has said he had booked the venue to stage his drama on 23 June and paid the advance too. He wondered how the elections would take place at the venue on the same date.
Nasser’s Pandavar Ani takes on a actor-director-producer K Bhagyaraj’s team named after Swami Sankaradas Swami.
Bhagyaraj will fight against Nasser for president’s post, while Vishal (Pandavar Ani) will clash with Ishari Ganesh for general secretary post. Karthi (Pandavar Ani) will face Prashanth for treasurer’s election. Interestingly, Gayathri Raghuram, Aarthi, Sangeetha, Kutty Padmini and Udhaya have taken to the Sankaradas Swami Ani.
A total of 19 members have filed their nominations for executive committee members from Pandavar Ani including Khushbu, Kovai Sarala and Manobala.
Bhagyaraj had supported Pandavar Ani during the last elections.
Both the teams have been visiting various districts to seek votes of hundreds of drama artistes who are also members of Nadigar Sangam.
Amidst such a scenario, Shekher alleged that when he has booked the venue to stage his drama, how can they conduct elections?
Speaking to News Today, Shekher, said, “I have paid Rs 1,000 to SSPL Charities towards booking of an auditorium on 23 June between 9.30 am 2 pm for a special VIP preview show of my new play CSK.”
When contacted, Poochi Murugan of Pandavar Ani said, “However they may try to stop the election, we will conduct it. There is no question of postponing it. Nadigar Sangam polls will happen.”
In the meantime, Nadigar Sangam has filed a writ petition in the Madras High Court accusing the police of refusing to provide security for the election to the association.
Nadigar Sangam secretary Vishal claimed that former High Court judge E Padmanabhan had been appointed as election officer for the elections.
It was he who chose the college as venue for the election after visiting many other places and taking into consideration several relevant factors, he said.
“On the basis of a representation given by a rival candidate claiming the venue to be insufficient for conduct of elections, the police had written a letter to the college expressing their inability to provide protection and the management of the college, in turn, was not willing to provide the venue without security,” Vishal said.