Nadigar Sangam elections: Polling peaceful after the ruckus

Chennai: Amidst a lot of confusion, fierce fights, allegations and uncertainty till the last minute, the elections to South Indian Film Artistes Association (2019 -22), better known as Nadigar Sangam, were held in a relatively peaceful manner. More than 1,579 artistes from films, television and stage of a total membership of 3,100 artistes voted in the poll held with tight security and police presence at the St. Ebbas Higher Secondary School in Mylapore on Sunday.

It was at the same venue that the Nadigar Sangam elections of 2015 were held and that was when the new team called Pandavar Ani, led by Vishal, contested against Sarath Kumar and Radha Ravi and triumphed. Kollywood was once again split into two rival factions with Pandavar Ani facing a new team named Swamy Sankaradas Ani formed by Isari Ganesh and Bhagyaraj.

The court cleared the decks to hold Sunday's elections late on Saturday evening. The judge has, however, directed that the results should not be declared till further orders. The next hearing is scheduled for July 8.

Both the teams arrived at the venue as early as 7 am with their leaders with Sankaradas Ani uniformly sporting red attire and Pandavar Ani in white, which they said was 'symbolic' of their pure thoughts and deeds.

Rajini could not vote
Meanwhile, Superstar Rajinikanth, who is out of town in Mumbai for a shoot, tweeted that he will be unable to cast his vote as he received his papers for postal votes late. "I am currently shooting in Mumbai. I received my postal vote for the Nadigar Sangam elections only at 6:45 this evening, despite the efforts I took to receive it earlier. I regret that I was unable to cast my vote because of this delay. It is strange and unfortunate. This should not have happened," he posted on his social media page on Saturday evening.

Rajini's vote is crucial - Kamal
"It gives me immense happiness to see so many media who have turned up in scorching sun to cover the election of Nadigar Sangam which has 3,000 odd members. Like anyone else, Rajinikanth's vote was also crucial. It is unfortunate that he did not receive his postal vote papers before time. We should see that such problems do not happen next time, the actor-turned-politician Kamal Haasan said.

"There should not be any political interference in Nadigar Sangam polls. If a majority of members want the SIAA's name to be changed as Tamil Nadigargal Sangam, we can consider it," Kamal added. His comment may be related to actor Vijayakumar and Prakash Raj insisting that the name be changed.

Elections held decently amidst mix-ups - Nasser
"Despite a lot of mix-ups, today Nadigar Sangam elections are happening in a decent manner. Artistes are enthusiastically voting. Barring postal votes, I am confident that there would be 100 percent turnout. Our team has all the possibilities to win in this election. Because members have realised that we have made only genuine promises and soon we would fulfil all of them. For the past 67 years, our association has been functioning as South Indian Artistes Association, which has not been changed. Hence, there's no need to change the name. As far as someone else casting actor Mohan's vote, we would probe about it soon,"actor Nasser, leader of the Pandavar Ani said.

Give importance to water conservation - Vivekh
I am happy that media is giving so much importance to this election. With the kind of water crisis Chennai is facing, why don't you also focus your attention on conserving water, rainwater harvesting and renovation of lakes and ponds and reach across  to a larger section of people" actor Vivekh asked.

Mud storm greets Vijay arrival
It appeared the venue was being overtaken by a dust storm when actor Vijay entered. Media, cops and people on election work rushed to see Vijay walk in. Chaos reigned for a while as selfies were sought with the popular star. Police escorted him to the polling booth. After casting his vote, Vijay managed to vanish without addressing media.

Let them prove the allegations -Vishal
"I am happy that there's a large turnout of artistes here despite the venue confusion till the last minute. I thank the honourable court for their fair judgment, which made these elections possible. It is not possible for me to make every member happy.

Once the construction of Nadigar Sangam building is over, I want to help the families of members for their educational needs and pension for seniors. We are also planning to build an old age home for senior citizens," actor Vishal, general secretary in the Pandavar Ani group when it was in office, said. "We have given complaint with the postal department regarding the late delivery of Rajini sir's postal papers,"Vishal explained.

"I want all those who make allegations on me to prove them, only then I can give a reply. If I have to satisfy all then I have no option than to sell only ice creams, he said in a sarcastic tone.

Arya cycles to the venue
Arya was one of the early birds to reach the voting booth. The actor who went for his morning exercise on his bicycle came to the venue in shorts and headgear.
 Radha, Ambika, Vikram, Mayisamy, Sibi, Arun padian, Vennatadai Nirmala, Saranya Bhagyaraj, Parthiban, Lalitha Kumari, Charlie, Chinni Jayanth, Mansoor, Sundar C, Venniraadai Moorthy, Pandirajan, Shanthanu, Ramki, Vadivukkarasi, Rohini, Sakthi Nirosha, Ponvannan, Sivakumar, Suriya, Vindhiya, veteran actress Lalitha who came in an ambulance, Santhanam, Vikranth, Gaundamani, Rekha, SJ Suryah, Udhayanidhi were among those who cast their votes.