Where there is an election, there is trouble, or so we have seen. The trouble-ridden Nadigar Sangam elections are to happen today and guess who will be missing their vote? Rajinikanth! The Superstar, who is currently shooting for Darbar, called the incident strange and unfortunate in a tweet. He had a shooting scheduled in Mumbai on June 23 - the date set by the Madras High Court for the election. The veteran reportedly tried to get his postal ballot before leaving for Mumbai, but the ballots reached him at 6.45 - a good while after the time to submit postal ballots was over.
There have already been criticism against the 'disorganised' election process after the postal ballots reached many members after the postal ballots time slot closed at 5 p.m on Saturday, the eve of the election date. The elections, which were postponed following allegations of rule violations, was set to the date June 23 by a Madras HC order. Preparations are on at the polling booth which was announced at the last moment - St. Eba's Matriculation in Mylapore.
The Nadigar Sangam erupted into controversy after the Nadigar Sangam building was demolished in 2010 amidst widescale dissent. Later a group of actors - most prominently Vishal, Karthi, Nassar, Karunas et al - objected to the alleged inactivity and mismanagement of the then president Sharath Kumar and then general secretary Radha Ravi. The next election saw this front - dubbed Pandavar Ani - win hands down. Kamal Haasan had supported the Ani and Sarathumar had said that Rajinikanth was supporting them. This elections, however, will not have his say recorded. The incumbent committee, though, had a trouble-ridden reign what with the court cases and the touted inactivity of president Nassar. Vishal himself was accused of missing too many meetings and using the Sangam and his role as the secretary to boost his personal image. More recently, there was the memorable incident where he lost his cool following being locked out of the Nadigar Sangam building. This election period saw the emergence of another front - called the Swami Shankardas Ani - which has Bhagyaraj at the helm. They are pitting against Vishal and group and there have been several unfortunate spats between the two groups during the campaign period. Bhagyaraj's campaign visits to the homes of impoverished artists drew flak after he allegedly handed out money. While he justified this move saying he 'had to provide them an assurance', the artists themselves took offense saying this hurt their self-respect. Meanwhile, the Nadigar Sangam building, which has a lot of emotional value attached to it, will still need another 20 crore or so to reach completion.
