Deccan Chronicle

A good turnout for MAA elections

Although most top stars gave the Movie Artiste Associatio­n elections a miss, many come out in support of the contenders

- SURESH KAVIRAYANI

The much-hyped Movie Artiste Associatio­n (MAA) elections were held on Sunday. Of the total 702 members, 394 artistes cast their vote, which is quite a large number, compared to the earlier elections. This was the first time that the election was held under court supervisio­n with full video footage.

But most of the top actors like Pawan Kalyan, Mahesh Babu, Venkatesh, Nagarjuna, Jr NTR, Ram Charan and Allu Arjun didn’t turn up. Only Nandamuri Balakrishn­a was there to cast his vote.

This election has been the most exciting one in Tollywood in recent times. Two veteran actors Jayasudha and Rajendra Prasad are contesting for the president’s post. Hundreds of people thronged the AP Film Chamber Office building to see the stars, where the polling was held. Turns out, the election dominated the Australia-New Zealand cricket cup final.

Supporters of the two presidenti­al contenders were at the main gate, requesting voters to cast their vote for their respective candidate. Actor Naresh was the only one who was busy from morning, campaignin­g for Jayasudha. Some others like Disco Shanthi, actor Vijay Kumar (yesteryear actress Manjula’s husband) and his daughter Sridevi came from Chennai, especially to cast their votes. Interestin­gly, some contestant­s like Ali and Thanikella Bharani didn’t even turn up to cast their votes.

All eyes are on actress Hema, as she accused Sivaji Raja and announced that she would approach the Human Rights Commission for his attack. But she didn’t do so as Dasari Narayana Rao intervened.

The winners will be announced after a couple of days. According to a city court, the counting and the results will be declared later, once the court gives a green signal. JAYASUDHA, THE FAVOURITE?

According to the polling percentage and the way they campaigned, the results may favour Jayasudha. Many supported Jayasudha; who may win by a slight margin.

 ??  ?? Lakshmi Manchu; left Swathi
Lakshmi Manchu; left Swathi
 ??  ?? Nagababu
Nagababu
 ??  ?? Prakash Raj
Prakash Raj
 ??  ?? Rajendra Prasad
Rajendra Prasad

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