The election date for South Indian Artists Association aka Nadigar Sangam was announced on Tuesday evening by Electoral Officer Retd. Judge E Padmanabhan. The election is set to take place from 7.00 am to 5.00 pm on June 23 at Dr MGR Janaki College for Arts and Science on Dr Durgabai Deshmuk Road in RA Puram, Chennai.
The appointment of Padmanabhan came after an Emergency Executive Council meeting held earlier this month in Chennai.
Elections will be held for the post of President, currently held by Nasser, two Vice Presidents held by Ponvannan and Karunas, the post of General Secretary held by Vishal, the Treasurer post held by Karthi and the 24-member Executive Committee.
Some of the existing Executive Committee members include Kutty Padmini, Kovai Sarala, Nanda, Prasanna, Sriman, Sangeetha, Pasupathy, Nalini and Nirosha.
It was earlier announced that Nasser would be contesting once again for the post of President in this elections along with his same team members Karthi and Vishal. While applications are currently open, the list of contestants will be announced on June 14.
Actor Udhaya, who is currently a part of the EC, announced that he would contest against Vishal for the post of General Secretary since he found the latter's performance unsatisfactory.
“The current administration is one of the best. Nasser sir and Karthi sir have worked tirelessly for the Nadigar Sangam. However, many are unhappy with Vishal’s performance,” Udhaya told The Hindu.
Nasser’s Pandavar Ani was formed during the last elections which were held in October 2015 against Sarath Kumar and Radha Ravi’s team. A controversy broke out in Nadigar Sangam that year when the Council found out that Sarath Kumar and Radha Ravi had colluded to sell the Sangam’s property without the consent from its members.
The three-year tenure of the present team which was to end in October 2018 was extended by six months at a general body meeting in August 2018, since a new building, as promised by Vishal’s team, was to be inaugurated in March 2019. As of May 2019, the building is yet to be inaugurated and Nasser had told TNM in an interview that the ambitious office building might be completed after elections.