Sixty artistes on Thursday approached President A P J Abdul Kalam demanding immediate removal of danseuse Sonal Mansingh from the helm of the Sangeet Natak Akademi accusing her of running the organisation in an autocratic manner.

A memorandum presented to the President by the artistes, including vice-chairperson K N Pannikar and Carnatic vocalist Balamurali Krishna, said: "From day one, Sonal Mansingh went on a steamroller trip of taking unilateral decisions."

The memorandum complained about her "unconstitutional, undemocratic, unethical, unwarranted and unbecoming performance as chairperson" of the Akademi.

Mansingh, however, refuted the allegations as a "pack of lies and canards," and asserted that her only goal has been
the good of the organisation.

Three of the five government nominees to the Akademi board -- Pannikar, Balamurali Krishna and Savitri Heisnam -- have quit their posts demanding Mansingh's removal as chairperson.

The artistes have also objected to the danseuse campaigning for Narendra Modi [Images] in the 2003 Gujarat assembly election.

Alleging that Mansingh used her post to derive personal mileage, the memorandum claimed she personally edited a 30-minute CD-ROM on Indian dance, which had no mention of any contemporary dancers, including her guru Kelucharan Mohapatra.