Jagadish backs out from AMMA presidential polls; woman president to lead?

KOCHI: Actor Jagadish has backed out from the Association of Malayalam Movie Artists (AMMA) presidential polls. He held talks with Mohanlal and Mammootty. Reports say as Jagadish wants a woman president to lead the association, he backed out from the fray.

There were reports earlier that Jagadish may withdraw from the race if Mohanlal and Mammootty allow him. Actor Raveendran had also withdrawn from the contest for presidential post. With this, Swetha Menon is likely to lead AMMA. With Jagadish's withdrawal, there are four more contestants for the post of president. They are Swetha Menon, Jayan Cherthala, Anoop Chandran and Devan.

Five are contesting for the general secretary post. Baburaj, Cuckoo Parameswaran, Jayan Cherthala, Anoop Chandran and Raveendran are in the fray. Although Raveendran withdrew from the race for the president's post, he had made it clear that he would contest for the post of general secretary.

Many had stepped forward against actor Baburaj contesting the polls. ‘The accused should stay away. If Baburaj contests, it will raise many doubts. Mohanlal stepped down from the post of AMMA president after getting fed up. It is the habit of some to drag Lal's name into every issue. If Lal or Mammootty is not there, we will not even get operational funds. If we see anything wrong, we will speak out,' Mallika Sukumaran told a channel the other day.