"It is strange and unfortunate," Rajinikanth said he was unable to vote in the "Nadigar Sangam" polls.

Election for the South Indian Film Artistes Association is being held in Chennai today. In one of the most fiercely fought contests, nearly 3,000 actors and artistes are voting in the polls for the ''Nadigar Sangam'', the association of film, television and stage actors from the Tamil film and entertainment industry.

Superstar Rajinikanth, who is out of town on a shoot, tweeted that he will be unable to cast his vote as he received his papers for postal votes late. "I am currently shooting in Mumbai. I received my postal vote for the Nadigar Sangam elections only at 6:45 pm this evening, despite the efforts I took to receive it earlier. I regret that I was unable to cast my vote because of this delay. It is strange and unfortunate. This should not have happened...," Rajinikanth tweeted on Saturday evening.

The present office-bearers - Tamil actors Nassar, Vishal Reddy and Karthi - are being challenged by a group led by actor-director Bhagyaraj, Udhaya, Kutty Padmini and Ishari Ganesh.

A fresh team of a president, two vice-presidents, a general secretary, a treasurer and a 24-member executive committee will be formed after the results.

The counting of votes will not be done today following an order by the Madras High Court on Friday that allowed the election to be held today but said the results shall not be declared till further orders.

Nadigar Sangam Elections: Veteran Tamil actor Nassar, part of the incumbent team of the "Nadigar Sangam", was among those who voted.

"I thank the court which intervened timely and made this election possible. I am the General Secretary. If I have to make everyone happy, then I will have to keep an eye on everyone. This is not possible. This election is of money power versus integrity," actor Vishal said.

Construction of a new building in Chennai for the association is one of the key issues this election. Vishal's team has begun the construction work. Challengers, however, say there is a huge delayte in completion of the work.

Four years ago, Vishal's team defeated actor R Sarath Kumar's team on the issue of a new building. Sarath Kumar had held the post for nine years.