Battle for Mandya: Congress appoints team from Delhi to groom Ramya

Daijiworld Media Network – Bangalore

Bangalore, Aug 17: She may be a seasoned actress, but as a politician, Ramya is still a novice. Apparently, her party is taking no chances. In a bid to boost her images as well as that of the party, the Congress has appointed a team of experts from New Delhi to groom Ramya.

From her choice of clothes to the way she should speak to the media and react to questions posed by reporters, Ramya will be guided and groomed by the expert team.

In addition, Veerappa Moily’s son Harsha Moily is also rendering necessary support and guiding Ramya, said sources.

Harsha Moily has played an important role in planning the election publicity campaign. The work of putting the plan into action is done by experts who arrived from Delhi. Which means, the experts will step into the streets and help Ramya in campaigning whereas Harsha Moily will stay away from public meetings and will only plan from behind the scenes.

It is learnt that he had helped Ramya in conducting her guardian R T Narayan’s final rites and will continue to assist her till the election. It is said that Harsha played a vital role in coaxing Ramya not to quit from contesting in the election after Narayan's demise.

The team of experts from Delhi consists of 4 to 5 members including one of Ramya’s friend. The team operates similarly to a ‘propaganda team’ commonly seen in elections in foreign countries. The members in the team are former Youth Congress members and have obtained training directly from Rahul Gandhi on how to attract voters and plan strategy for elections, it is learnt.

Sources close to Congress said that the team will guide Ramya till the Lok Sabha elections are over, and apart from grooming Ramya, their job was to also ensure that there is no scope for any controversy.

Rahul's guidance

When Ramya was about to submit her nomination for the election, she lost her foster father. Saddened by this, Ramya had decided to step back, but in order to make her stay, Congress national vice-president Rahul Gandhi had sent a team to assist her, sources said. Harsha came to her help on the advise of Rahul Gandhi, it is learnt.

However, speaking to mediapersons, Veerappa Moily said neither he nor his son is assisting or guiding Ramya. "There are leaders in Mandya to assist her. I will only campaign for her," he said.