No vested interest in revoking Dileep's suspension: Mohanlal
Thiruvananthapuram, June 30: Superstar Mohanlal on Saturday said there was no vested interest in revoking the suspension of actor Dileep, an accused in the actress kidnap case, from Association of Malayalam Movie Artists (AMMA).
For the first time since the massive row broke out over the revoking of suspension of actor Dileep, superstar Mohanlal on Saturday broke his silence.
He said there was no vested interest and that they just followed the democratic principles adopted in any organisation. "We are, however, willing to look into the resignation of a few women members."
Dileep is an accused in the actress kidnap case that took place last year and was in jail for 85 days and now out on bail. He was suspended from AMMA last year.
Those who have resigned include the victim in the case, Rima Kallingal, Remya Nambisan and Geetu Mohandas, all of whom are leading lights in the Malayalam film industry.
Mohanlal was ordained as the president of artists body last Sunday, when he replaced CPI-M backed Lok Sabha member Innocent who stepped down after 18 years in that post.
In an email from London to the media, Mohanlal stated at the annual general body meeting that it was a unanimous decision the suspension of Dileep should be revoked.
"All what we did was to follow the accepted democratic practice that is taken in such circumstances and there was no other vested interests. I am deeply pained by the response against AMMA that has come out. We have always stood strongly behind the victim.
"What has to be noted is that we are an organisation with 485 members, of which more than 50 per cent find it difficult to go forward. We are giving a monthly pension to A137 of our members," wrote Mohanlal.
He further states it has to be noted that they have not even communicated the unanimous decision to Dileep as even before that there has been a huge opposition to it.
"We also saw that there have been differences of opinion raised by a few members who have announced that they are resigning from AMMA. We very well understand their emotions and the new office-bearers of AMMA are willing to take a re-look.
"Corrections, if it has to be there, will be done and let the differences of opinion amongst us be rectified and we will go forward. Let those who throw mud on us from outside do it , but we will stand together," Mohanlal added.
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Dissanayake on way to become Sri Lankan President, postal voting results suggest
Colombo (PTI): National People's Power (NPP) leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake seems set to become Sri Lanka’s ninth executive president on Sunday with an impressive show in the presidential election, according to postal voting results of seven electoral districts.
The polling took place on Saturday from 7 am to 4 pm local time at over 13,400 polling stations in 22 electoral districts.
The 56-year-old leader had taken an unassailable lead over his rivals, the main Opposition leader, Sajith Premadasa, 57, and the incumbent President Ranil Wickremesinghe, 75.
According to results declared in postal voting of seven of the 22 electoral districts, the NPP leader has gained 56 per cent of the votes, with his rivals trail him by grabbing 19 per cent each.
According to the trend shown in postal voting results, analysts say Dissanayake is likely to win the presidency by 50 per cent plus votes.
This comes after predictions that a second preference vote count might be needed to determine the winner among the three front runners.
The election, dubbed a three-cornered contest between Wickremesinghe, Dissanayake, and Premadasa of the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB), shows signs of being a landslide for Dissanayake, who would become Sri Lanka’s first ever Marxist head of state.
