South Indian Artistes' Association Election Sunday Oct 18,2015

 

In one of the most fiercely fought contests, Tamil actor Vishal Reddy and his team swept the South Indian Artistes' Association elections on Sunday, ending veteran actor R Sarath Kumar's domination over Tamil film industry's top body

The election took place at St. Ebbas Girls Higher Secondary School in Mylapore,Chennai

While Vishal Reddy, 38, was elected the new General Secretary, senior actor M Nasser will take over as the President, replacing Sarath Kumar, 61, who held the post for nine years

Vishal was declared the new general secretary with 1,445 votes against actor Radha Ravi, who bagged 1,138 votes and won by a margin of 307 votes
Nasser who contested against Sarath Kumar polled 1344 votes as against Sarathkumar who polled  1231 votes and won by a margin of 113 votes
Karthi was declared the Treasure with 1493 votes against SSR Kannan who polled 1080 Votes and won by a margin of 413 votes
Karunas and PonVannan were declared the Vice-Presidents who polled 1362 votes and 1235 votes against Vijaykumar and Chimbu who polled 115 and 1107 votes respectively

Almost every passing moment, the stars who had gathered at St. Ebbas School for the Nadigar Sangam elections seem to be going through a frisson of anxiety, fear and even disappointment.

Yes, for some actors, disappointment has been the overriding emotion of the day. 240 members of the Sangam found out that they could not cast their vote, as they have defaulted on payment of membership fee. 

Sachu, who was denied a vote, said, “Just because I have been denied a vote, I don’t cease to be an actress. I have been an actor since MGR days. I have renewed my membership until 2017 by paying Rs. 5, 000 in 2007. Why am I being denied the right to vote?” she asks. 

Some members were allegedly denied voting rights because they did not have ID cards.

“I feel sad that artistes from other states who have done hundreds of films have not been allowed to vote because they don't have their ID cards. This issue must be resolved at the earliest,” says actor Ambika. 

Superstar Rajinikanth says the association must be renamed Tamil Nadu Artistes Association instead of South Indian Artistes Association

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Superstar arrives to cast his vote

 

Kamal arrives to cast his vote

Kamal Haasan supports the nomination of actor Nasser, who is contesting against actor Sarath Kumar.

Suhasini,Revathy and Archana arrive to cast the vote