Senior actor Rajendra Prasad was elected president of the Movie Artistes Association (MAA) of the Telugu film industry here on Friday.

Rajendra Prasad won the election with a majority of 85 votes over his nearest rival Jaya Sudha.

Reports said Rajendra Prasad panel member Sivaji Raja is also leading by a good number of votes as General Secretary of the MAA.

Festive atmosphere prevailed at the Film Chamber of Commerce premises at Jubilee Hills here as hundreds of Rajendra Prasad fans assembled and started celebrations.

While Rajendra Prasad was polled  237 votes, his close rival and senior actress Jaya Sudha was polled 152 votes. A total of 394 votes were polled in the election held to elect new president of MAA in place of outgoing president Murali Mohan.

The counting of votes took place on the orders of the city civil court which dismissed the petition filed by small time actor O.Kalyan who challenged the election process.

After the city civil court dismissed his petition and ordered declaration of results, he challenged the orders in High Court which is yet to hear the petition and pass orders.

According to reports, heavy betting took place among some individuals over the election results.