Actress Shwetha Menon has been elected the first woman president of the Association of Malayalam Movie Artists (AMMA) in one of the most controversial polls in the organisation’s 31-year-old history.

The development comes almost a year after a committee led by superstar Mohanlal resigned following allegations of sexual harassment against some of its members. The accusations followed the release of a report by the Justice Hema Committee, which was set up by the Kerala government in the wake of the 2017 actress assault case.

Only 298 of the 506 members of AMMA cast their votes this time. The run-up to the poll was marred by allegations and counter-allegations, including an FIR against Shwetha for allegedly “transmitting sexually explicit content” and “indecent representation” in some of her films released more than a decade ago.

“I don’t claim that I would do miracles, but my team and I would bring in changes in the Malayalam film industry,” Shwetha, 51, told the media.

Shwetha, who defeated actor Devan, 73, in the election, had made her acting debut opposite Mammootty in the 1991 film Answaram.

The biggest challenge before Shwetha is to bring back the actresses who had quit AMMA to constitute the Women in Cinema Collective. They questioned the male chauvinism in the Malayalam film industry and raised the casting couch issue.

Kukku Parameshwaran, AMMA general secretary, told The Telegraph that people had woken up to experience the change. “A change is needed in the film industry. Our aim is to bring in those actors who had left AMMA, including the assault survivor. The new office-bearers will meet in Kochi next week and plan our strategies,” Kukku said.