Movie Artists Association (MAA) President Sivaji Raja is furious. It seems the report by Deccan Chronicle, on the alleged misappropriation of funds by a few members of the association, has not gone down too well with him.
All hell broke loose in a recent meeting convened by the association that lasted for nearly five hours. There were heated arguments between Sivaji Raja, who is said to be behind the fraud, and the other members. Even though some suggested the setting up of a fact-finding committee to inquire into the allegations, Sivaji Raja was quick to shoot it down. Instead, he chose to indulge in abusing the reporter who broke the story and even threatened to use his connection with Chiranjeevi to bury the issue.
According to an executive member, “Sivaji Raja continued to hurl abuses using unparliamentary language. Some members condemned him by saying he was indulging in loose talk and not handling things properly.”
All throughout the volatile meeting, Srikanth, a close friend of Sivaji Raja’s, was seen trying to calm him down. Srikanth is also very close to Chiranjeevi’s family.
“Srikanth and Sivaji Raja are planning to meet Chiranjeevi in order to get him to intervene. But Chiranjeevi, who knows about it, isn’t showing interest,” says a source, who feels the star may be concerned that this will only add to the other issues already haunting the industry.
It’s also interesting that only Banerjee, Nagineedu, Srikanth and Edida Sriram are supporting Sivaji Raja, while the remaining 11 members of the executive committee want an inquiry. On Monday, Sivaji Raja and his supporters are planning to call a press conference to address the issue.
“We have some differences on some issues and we are going to sort them out soon,” concludes Naresh, General Secretary of MAA.
