CINTAA re-elections: Upasana Singh, Sahila Chadha get maximum votes
What's the story
The Cine and TV Artistes Association (CINTAA) re-election results were announced on Saturday. Upasana Singh and Sahila Chadha emerged as the top vote-getters with 360 and 357 votes respectively. They were followed by Vikas Verma (349 votes), Deepak Parashar (348 votes), Kunickaa Sadanand (312 votes), Varsha Usgaonkar Sharma (306 votes), and Nagma Morarji (290 votes). The election was necessitated after the Federation of Western India Cine Employees (FWICE) ordered fresh polls following 11 members' resignations from CINTAA's Executive Committee.
Reactions
'Now we have to work and show'
Parashar expressed surprise at his victory, saying, "I did not expect this, I am surprised. I have won with very good votes. Now I just want to work for my CINTAA members."
Sadanand thanked those who voted for her and said, "Now our fight has begun. Now we have to work and show whether we are truly capable or not."
Background
Mass resignations rocked the body recently
The re-election was called after 11 members of CINTAA's 21-member Executive Committee resigned, citing autocratic functioning within the association.
This mass resignation had raised questions about who would continue to run CINTAA and eventually led to demands for fresh elections.
Dispute
Singh is in a dispute with Poonam Dhillon, Padmini Kolhapure
The CINTAA elections were held amid a recent leadership dispute between Singh and Sadanand on one side, and actors Poonam Dhillon and Padmini Kolhapure on the other.
The disagreement escalated to the point where Mumbai Police had to intervene.
A video from the incident showed a police officer asking both sides to calm down, warning that things could get worse if they didn't.
Allegations
Dhillon, Kolhapure were trying to take CINTAA documents out: Singh
Singh has alleged that Dhillon and Kolhapure were trying to take CINTAA documents out of the premises. She claimed that a police complaint was filed over this incident.
Speaking to HT City on Saturday, the actor said she learned about the situation after receiving a call from another actor and immediately rushed to the spot.
She said, "We were trying to explain to police that they can't even enter the CINTAA premises now that the elections have been approved."
Counter-allegations
Something was wrong with documents: Singh
Singh further claimed that a CINTAA member had earlier expressed doubts over the documents and raised the need for forensic intervention.
"He felt that something was not right with them. After that, today I got to know that Padmini and Poonam were taking out CINTAA documents in a tempo," she alleged.