C Radhakrishnan falls short by one vote, Madhav Kaushik elected new Sahitya academy chairman

NEW DELHI: C Radhakrishnan, the Kerala litterateur who contested for the Sahitya academy vice president post lost the election by one vote. Hindi language poet and writer Madhav Kaushik from Uttar Pradesh was elected the new chairman of the academy.

To wrest control over the Academy, Sangh Parivar also supported a panel that made the elections more than a friendly affair. Madhav Kaushik defeated Kannada writer Mallepuram G. Venkatesh and another Marathi writer Ranganath Pathare to emerge to the top post of the academy. Both Venkatesh and Pathare were supported by the BJP panel.

Meanwhile, Sangh Parivar affiliate Kumud Sharma won the vice president post in the academy. Kumud is the head of the Hindi department at Delhi university.