The counting of votes for the Then India Nadigar Sangam or South India Artistes Association polls began. The counting was carried out at a private school in Chennai.
The election was held between the Pandavar Ani, led by Nassar-Vishal, and the Swami Sankaradoss Ani, headed by Bhagyaraj. The counting of ballots began with the unavailability of Vishal and Karthi from the Nasser-led Pandava party, as the Sankaradas team, which included Ishri Ganesan and Prasanth and was directed by Bakiyaraj, was present.
Due to uncertainty over the counting of postal ballots, the total number of ballots was counted shortly after. The Bakiyaraj-led Sankardas group stormed out of the counting centre, accusing it of cheating the polls and stating that it would no longer monitor the vote counting.
Ishri Ganesh questioned the inconsistencies in the vote counting, questioning how 1602 votes were registered and each position received 5-19 more. Ishri Ganesh also claimed that more than 150 postal votes were tampered with.
However, the outcome was revealed in the evening, when Pandavar Ani was declared a winner. Nassar will be Nadigar Sangam’s President. Vishal and Isari K Ganesh competed for the job of Secretary. Vishal won, receiving 1720 votes to Isari’s 1032 votes. At least 35 votes were declared invalid.
Karthi and Prashanth ran for Treasurer, and the former was elected with 1827 votes. There were 818 votes cast by post, while 1009 votes were cast directly.
The polling took place on July 23, 2019, but before the counting could begin, Ezhumalai and Benjamin filed a complaint against the procedures, claiming that the polling was invalid owing to unethical tactics.
The High Court dismissed this petition. On February 23, a bench comprising Justices Pushpa Sathyanarayana and Mohammed remarked, “The elections held on July 23, 2019, are legally binding. Under the supervision of the election officer, the sealed ballot boxes maintained in the bank locker can be opened, and the votes can be tallied within four weeks.”
