A day after theatre artiste K N Panicker resigned as vice-chairman of the Sangeet Natak Akademi protesting against Sonal Mansingh's way of functioning as the chairperson, the noted danseuse on Sunday said there was no crisis in the organisation and declared that she would not step down.
"What is the big crisis? We had a meeting all day yesterday [Saturday] in which we very animatedly discussed the calendar of events of the Akademi and finalised the budget allocation.
"I do not know what happened in three hours after the meeting for Mr Panicker to resign," Mansingh told PTI and said she was meeting Information and Broadcasting Minister S Jaipal Reddy in the evening to brief him about the decisions taken at the meeting.
Panicker said he had put in his papers on Saturday night in protest against the 'unconstitutional, unethical functioning of the Akademi under her (Mansingh)' and also to express solidarity with classical musician Balamurlikrishna, who had earlier quit from the executive board of the organisation.
Mansingh asserted she would not step down despite the recent protest against her. She said she was not the kind of person who will step down. "A handful of people are vocal in criticising me but they were unable to give a single thread of evidence."
Had she made any mistakes she would not hesitate to apologise, she said.
"The artistes, who are now speaking against me are the ones who had been enjoying advantages before my time. I stopped these practices," she said. This was the main reason behind the vilification campaign against her, she claimed.
About 60 prominent artistes submitted a memorandum to President A P J Abdul Kalam on April 21 demanding the removal of Mansingh from the helm at the Akademi.
The I&B minister, who too received representation from both sides, also met he President. He is understood to have discussed with Kalam the developments at the Akademi.
Mansingh met Jaipal Reddy in New Delhi in the evening. Emerging from the nearly 40-minute meeting, she told reporters that "we have placed concrete facts before the minister about the situation and it is now up to him to decide on further course of action."
Prominent dancer Raja Reddy, who is spearheading the campaign against Mansingh, said the resignation by two noted artistes from the executive board of the Akademi had made it clear that the mandate was not in her (Mansingh) favour.
"My advice to her is to gracefully resign and let somebody else take up the post," Raja Reddy, who had submitted the memorandum to the President, said.
