Actor Naresh got elected as the president of the Telugu Movie Artists Association (MAA). The elections for 2019 were conducted yesterday, and the results were announced this morning. Naresh beat actor Sivaji Raja, the previous president, in a close race to the win.
According to IB Times, 472 celebrities cast their votes, making this the highest tally in the history of MAA elections. Rajasekhar was elected the executive vice-president while Hema and SV Krishna Reddy were elected as the vice-presidents. Jeevitha Rajashekhar is the general secretary and Gowtham Raju and Sivabalaji are the joint secretaries.
Congrats to Telugu #movieartistassociation #MaaElections2019 Results
President: @ItsActorNaresh
Executive Vice President: @ActorRajasekhar
Vice President: #SVKrishnaReddy & #Hema
General Secretary: #JeevithaRajasekhar
Treasurer: #RajeevKanakala pic.twitter.com/tTaf6bfOIs— FridayCinemaa (@FridayCinemaa) March 11, 2019
Anti-incumbency is believed to be one of the main reasons for Naresh’s victory, as the industry bigwigs felt that others need to be given a chance. “The MAA President’s position should be held by a person for only one term. Every aspirant should get an opportunity. I have decided to lend my support to Naresh and Rajasekhar. Even if it’s me, I wouldn’t go for a second term,” said actor Nagababu. He and his brother Chiranjeevi extended support to the previous general secretary Naresh, instead of Sivaji Raja.
Mid-last year, the association was in news when actress Sri Reddy leveled allegations about the existence of casting couch in the industry. Sivaji Raja, instead of addressing the issue, rejected her application for a membership in the association. Other members were upset with this decision which projected MAA in poor light.
“As the association’s general secretary, Naresh did a very good job in his last term. This is also a reason I am supporting him this time. I was disappointed with the last term’s office-bearers. Everybody and anybody would talk about MAA as they liked and this office couldn’t do anything. I was disappointed with their performance. Naresh and Jeevitha garu came forward to speak for MAA,” said Nagababu.
Image Courtesy: Sify.com
