The BJP on Sunday rejected allegations of exerting indirect control and influence over the Association of Malayalam Movie Artistes (AMMA) through its president Shwetha Menon, stating that the actor is not a member of the party.
The BJP’s statement came a day after a group of women members of AMMA accused Menon of trying to incite communal tensions within the outfit. A member also played an audio clip, supposedly of the BJP leader, claiming that a major corporate conglomerate was going to donate $15 crore to AMMA if Menon remains at the helm as its chairman. Menon denied accusations that he was sympathetic to the BJP.
“There is a tendency to unnecessarily drag the BJP into the issues surrounding the film industry. As a party, we are registering a strong protest against it. Our party, which is ruling India, is not in such a desperate situation that it needs to win over film personalities by paying lakhs of rupees,” BJP state general secretary S Suresh told reporters.
Suresh said Menon did not become AMMA president as a representative of the BJP. “She is a nationalist. But she is not a member of the BJP or sympathizes with it,” he said.
He said that if the film industry faces a crisis, there are qualified people in its ranks to find solutions. “The BJP has adopted a position that there is no need for political interference,” he added.
On Saturday, Menon described her fight within the group against a “power group” that has been “attacking” her since she started as its president in 2025. A local court has allowed Menon, who took over as AMMA’s first female president in August last year, to continue in her position until the next organizational elections are called. An ad hoc committee headed by Ramesh Pisharody was disbanded after the court order.
In his Facebook post, Menon said AMMA takes care of the needs of many artistes who do not have regular income. In order to raise money in the form of donations, the lead actors, including Mammootty and Mohanlal, are participating in sponsored programmes, she said.
She wrote: “But I discovered that there were financial discrepancies by some of the accused in the funds allocated to the needy. When I inquired about these discrepancies, they started insulting me personally. There was an attempt to assault me in the general body meeting. Since I assumed the position of AMMA president, I have realized that an ordinary woman like me cannot face the power group alone within the group.”
