MAA polls: In outsider versus son of soil battle, Prakash Raj calls it quits

The actor was defeated by Vishnu Manchu for the post of president in Movie Artists Association (MAA) polls on Sunday. Vishnu received 381 votes, while Raj got 270 votes.

Vishnu Manchu's campaign centered on local versus outsider. He projected himself as a 'son of the soil' to blunt the tool of Prakash Raj, who hails from Karnataka. He was successful in projecting Raj as an 'outsider'.

"I accept voters' decisions. Regional and national feelings were brought into these elections. I'm leaving my MAA membership and I will continue to act in Telugu films. You who lead an association should have only Telugus. It was approved by the members, Telugu child was elected. That's good but I have a lot of self-esteem as an artist. Therefore, I am resigning from our membership, "said Prakash Raj.

He said even though he has resigned from the membership now, his bond with all the actors and directors in the industry stays on. "What can I do? My parents are not Telugu. It's not my fault. it's not their fault either. Putting aside whether we won or lost. Elections were held systematically. That should be a pleasure," he said.

Vishnu camp also won four other posts. Y. Raghu Babu was elected general secretary and Madala Ravi was elected vice­-president. Gautam Raju was elected joint secretary and M Siva Balaji was elected treasurer.

Srikanth of the Prakash Raj group defeated Babu Mohan to become executive vice-president. Other winners of the Prakash Raj panel include Banerjee as second vice­-president and Uttej as joint secretary.

During six-week intense campaigning, both groups exchanged serious charges. As many as 665 out of 883 eligible voters participated in the voting.

The polling was held at school premises in Jubilee Hills. Of the 665 votes, 60 votes were cast through postal ballots.