As the Movie Artists Association (MAA) is gearing up to conduct elections for its official body soon, actors Prakash Raj and Manchu Vishnu have decided to contest for the post of president this time around. The election promises to be a close contest between the two actors as the 800-member association has been divided into two panels supporting each of the contestants running for the top post. Interestingly, the actors are leaving no stone unturned to garner support from the association members.

It is being speculated that Prakash Raj has got the backing of actor Chiranjeevi and Vishnu, on the other hand, has received support from veteran actors Krishna, Krishnam Raju, and VK Naresh, the incumbent president of MAA.

"If Vishnu gets elected, his policy priority would be about the welfare of the members and the construction of a state-of-the-art building for MAA. Prakash Raj, however, is promising to keep the association politically neutral. It's going to be a tough contest," says a source. A few actors and actresses in the association alleged that Prakash Raj is non-accessible and is always at the center of controversies. "Prakash Raj is a non-local and doesn't get along well with everyone, while Vishnu had earlier served as the vice-president of MAA and will work towards smooth-running of the office," says an actor on condition of anonymity. 

The last election (2019-21), too, promised to be a thriller of a contest with Naresh VK defeating Shivaji Raj by 69 votes to become the president of MAA.