Kochi | Senior actors Shwetha Menon and Devan will contest for the key post of president of the Association of Malayalam Movie Artists (AMMA) in the elections to its governing body to be held on August 15.
Of the six candidates who filed nominations for the post, four including senior actor Jagadeesh withdrew their nominations before the last date of withdrawal on Thursday, AMMA sources said.
The number of candidates for the post of general secretary were also reduced to two, with four more persons including actor Baburaj withdrawing their nominations. Actors Raveendran and Kukku Parameswaran will vie for the post.
Baburaj, in a Facebook post, said he will henceforth dissociate from the activities of AMMA as he was publicly maligned by a section of the association members.
Three actors--Jayan Cherthala, Nasser Latif and Lakshmipriya--are contesting for the vice president’s post, while Anoop Chandran and Unni Shivapal are left in the fray for the post of treasurer.
Ansiba Hassan was elected unopposed as the joint secretary, with 12 other persons who filed nominations for the post withdrawing their nominations.
For the 11-member executive committee, four positions are reserved for women.
Eight actors, including Joy Mathew whose nomination to the president’s post was rejected, are left in the general category for a post in the executive committee, from which seven will be elected.
Five female actors are contesting for the four seats in the reserved category for the executive committee.
With the frontline stars including former president Mohanlal staying away from contest, there was flurry of activity in recent days, after several persons filed nominations for all the posts.
Jagadeesh, who was apparently the frontrunner for president’s post, withdrew his nomination reportedly backing Shewtha Menon as a consensus evolved in favour of a woman president, sources said.
However, Devan told reporters that he will stick to his decision to contest and it was up to the members of AMMA to choose its president.
