There was more trouble in store for actor-producer Vishal who seems to be having a long and horrible week. After his nomination papers for the RK Nagar bye-poll were rejected earlier this week, the president of the TN Producers’ Council faced allegations of corruption on Sunday by several members of the council.
Actor and AIADMK member JK Rithesh said, “Radhakrishnan, who earlier held working posts in the producer’s council, told us that when he was part of the team, the council had Rs 7 crore. Now, the council only has Rs 2 crore – so where is the rest of the money?”
“It has been eight months since Vishal promised that he will give the details in the next general body meeting,” Rithesh added.
Addressing the media after the meeting, Vishal denied corruption allegations and claimed that during the meeting, some people tried to hit him.
“Some people are stopping good things from happening. They came and tried to take away the mike and hit us. This is unnecessary. Everyone has the right to ask questions but the way they did it was wrong. I would like to thank the police for helping us, the judge came and observed everything, we also have footage for everything,” said Vishal.
Speaking about the corruption allegations, he said, “If we swindled Rs 7 crore, we cannot carry out such an annual general meeting. Every week they tell the press that there has been corruption. Instead, they should come to the office and speak to us. They need to have proof, only then will we respond to them,” he said.
The meeting also saw producers opposing Vishal’s move to stand for the RK Nagar election.
“According to the bye-laws, anyone who holds an office cannot stand for the elections without resigning their post. He did, so we objected to it and questioned him. But he refused to give a reply, and that’s why this problem started,” Rithesh said.
“There was a strong objection to Vishal’s actions, but his team cleverly started singing ‘Jana Gana Mana’ when people started speaking up, in order to finish the meeting,” said actor and BJP politician S Ve Shekar.