The beleaguered Movie Artistes Association (MAA) is once again in the news — this time, with two rival camps throwing accusations at one another. While one group is led by the MAA president V. K. Naresh, the other group is headed by executive vice president Rajasekhar.
On Sunday, the MAA members held a meeting at the Telugu Film Chamber office but the President was conspicuously absent. “It’s been almost six months and nothing has happened in MAA, so we all decided to meet,” explained Rajasekhar.
A source reveals that Rajasekhar’s wife, Jeevitha, who is the secretary of the association agreed that there were differences between the members on some issues.
Interestingly, Rajasekhar’s group has the support of nearly 18 members while Naresh’s group has the support of only eight members.
Naresh has been accused of not coming to office regularly and keeping members in the dark about the happenings within the organisation. “Naresh is acting like a one-man show and is not even answering calls from the secretary and other members,” says a source.
Actor Prudhvi, who left in the middle of the meeting, says that the present panel should be dissolved. “It is very sad that some members are not even giving a chance to others to speak. I request Chiranjeevi garu (the founder president) to dissolve the present committee and set up a fresh election,” he says.
Meanwhile, some members from Naresh’s group are apparently trying for a truce between the rival groups. “Sivabalaji and Rajeev Kanakala, who are staunch supporters of Naresh, are mediating on his behalf and have requested Rajasekhar to talk to Naresh privately and compromise,” reveals the source, adding that Rajasekhar has already rejected the idea.
There are also reports that senior writer and actor Paruchuri Gopala Krishna left the meeting halfway after turning emotional. “I left the meeting because I didn’t like the way some of the members behaved. I was not emotional,” he later clarified on Twitter.
