Over the last few years, the reputation of the Movie Artistes Association (MAA) has taken a beating, with ugly spats among the association members, sometimes even in front of the media, becoming commonplace. And now, it has suffered a fresh blow — Chiranjeevi has quit the disciplinary committee.
The megastar has submitted his resignation to Krishnam Raju, the Chairman of the disciplinary committee, and has asked to be relieved of his duties immediately.
Apparently, Chiru, who is also the Founder-President of MAA, has stepped down citing his busy work schedule, including his commitment to promote his film Acharya.
V.K. Naresh, President, MAA, has acknowledged that he is in receipt of the actor’s resignation. “We have received Chiranjeevi garu’s letter; he tendered his resignation from his position a couple of days back citing busy personal and professional commitments,” says Naresh.
Is funds use the root of the problem?
Despite his official reasons for quitting, popular opinion is that Chiru’s real reasons are quite different. Over the last couple of years, the board members and executive committee of MAA have been accused of misuse of funds, and have been trading charges in public besides locking horns over administrative issues.
To address these problems, last year, a disciplinary committee was set up under the chairmanship of Krishnam Raju. Chiranjeevi, Murali Mohan, Mohan Babu and Jayasudha were its members.
The Committee was tasked with looking into complaints and taking action against those who violated the MAA rules. However, we have reliably learnt that a few members of the MAA haven’t been giving due respect to the decision of some senior members (including Chiranjeevi) on matters related to use of funds. This hurt Chiru and was what is believed to have prompted him to step down.
It’s merely procedure, says Siva Balaji
Meanwhile, Siva Balaji, Joint-Secretary of MAA, reiterates that Chiranjeevi’s resignation was purely because of his busy schedule, and says he’s unable to understand why the media is focussing on this issue and why the step is being projected “in the wrong way.”
“We set up a disciplinary committee, as part of procedure, and Chiranjeevi garu’s decision should also be perceived in the same way — as part of the protocol,” he says.
“I did not speak with Chiranjeevi garu, but I heard that he has stepped down. Chiru garu loved MAA and always used to keep tabs on the developments. At times he would call me up personally to enquire about the developments,” he adds.
When asked about the next elections due in a couple of months, he says, “We haven’t discussed anything related to the coming elections; so we don’t know how and when they will take place. But we have been constantly working on COVID-19 welfare and relief measures for the artistes.”
