The Nadigar Sangam elections are scheduled to take place on June 23 but the road ahead is not without its fair share of drama. While a Madras High Court petition demanding for an ad-hoc committee to look into the elections is pending hearing on June 19, actor Karunas contesting for Vice President from Nasser’s Pandavar Ani has accused Bhagyaraj, the opposing team’s leader, of insulting drama artists in his campaigns.
Meanwhile, reacting to a recent video produced by Vishal Film Factory for their election campaign, actor Varalaxmi Sarathkumar has penned an open letter to actor Vishal, who is contesting once again for General Secretary from Pandavar Ani, requesting him to “have some class and grow up”. In it she writes, “It is so sad that you harp on my father’s past especially when you have not been able to prove squat (sic)."
Dear @VishalKOfficial you have lost my vote #nadigarsangamelections2019 pic.twitter.com/P4R32rEjrH
— varalaxmi sarathkumar (@varusarath) June 14, 2019
“If you are so proud of what you have done why don’t you showcase that instead of bringing down my dad when he’s not even involved this time. (…) All this time I respected you and I have been there for you as a friend always. Now you have taken it too far… it’s so sad instead of making a positive video about the things you have achieved you resorted to the lowest form of campaigning (sic),” reads the letter.
The 5-minute campaign video put out by Pandavar Ani talks about the failures of the previous office bearers - Sarathkumar and Radha Ravi in particular. The video also shows the progress made in completing the Nadigar Sangam office building, Pandavar Ani’s prime focus during the 2015 elections. While the promised structure remains incomplete, the video goes on to list Pandavar Ani’s future plan for the building - to host drama shows in the theatre inside the proposed building.
Speaking to TNM, actor Varalaxmi says that she chose to address the issue in an open forum because the video too was being circulated on a public platform. “I have nothing against anyone and I haven’t been involved in it so far either. But why defame a person who is not even involved in it now? Last time when this happened I understand they were contesting against each other. But this is just stooping too low,” she tells TNM.
Varalaxmi further adds that soon after she posted the letter on her Twitter page, actor Nasser, leader of Pandavar Ani, reach out to her. “He apologised and said he didn’t know about the video," she says.
Earlier this week, Vishal appeared before district crime branch (DCB) officials of Kancheepuram to submit documents relating to the Nadigar Sangam land case. In May this year, the Madras High Court had given the Kanchipuram police a three-month deadline to finish the investigation and file the final report in a case filed by Nadigar Sangam General Secretary Vishal Krishna in 2017. The case relates to a fraudulent sale of land belonging to the Nadigar Sangam in 2006 with actors and former office bearers Radha Ravi and Sarathkumar being the prime accused.
“The case is still being investigated and Vishal has not been able to prove anything all these years. Why defame someone now who is not even involved in the elections needlessly?” asks Varalaxmi.