Ramya busied herself with interviews to electronic and print media after filing nomination to contest booth-level elections. The actor, who became a member of the Youth Congress in April this year, was elected from Shanthinagar booth. According to sources in the party, based on a complaint submitted to the Lok Sabha Returning Officer (LRO), Ramya has been asked to stay off the media as it amounts to violation of model code of conduct.

Lalit Mohan, Member of Foundation for Advanced Management of Elections (FAME), which is acting as an observer for the elections, said he had received the complaint but was yet to act on it.

“The LRO has forwarded the complaint to me. The handbook given to the candidates states that they should not interact with the media during the election process. We are yet to take a decision on the complaint,” he said.

Arivazhagan, Pradesh Returning Officer, Karnataka Youth Congress, said speaking to the media was considered a violation. “It is clearly mentioned in the handbook that the candidates should not speak to the media. They aren’t even allowed to issue statements. If the candidates have been talking to the media, then it is in violation of the rules,” he added. Candidates found violating the code of conduct can be disqualified from the election process. However, the handbook available on the IYC portal – www.iyc.in/karnataka does not detail this condition. Ramya was unavailable for comments. She is said to be on an outstation film shoot.

Speaking to Deccan Herald earlier this week, Ramya had said that she was yet to make up her mind on contesting the next level of elections – Assembly, Lok Sabha and State.

4 LS constituencies reserved for SC/ST
The posts of presidents for Indian Youth Congress in Haveri, Bagalkot, Mysore and Kolar Lok Sabha constituencies will be reserved for Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes. The selections were made through draw of lots on Friday.

According to Arivazhagan V K, Pradesh Returning Officer, Karnataka Youth Congress Elections, the Youth Congress bylaw provides for reservation of four seats out of the 28 Lok Sabha constituencies in the State. The reservation for Assembly constituencies and State president is left open. He said out of the 46,273 booths in the State, nearly 70 per cent of the booths went through the polling process between September 16 and 21.
On September 25, candidates elected at the booth level have to file their nominations at the respective Lok Sabha headquarters. Scrutiny of papers and allotment of symbols would be taken up the next day. The polling for Assembly, Lok Sabha and State Youth Congress is scheduled for October 12 and 13. The counting of votes at the Assembly and Lok Sabha levels would be taken up on October 13 itself, while that for the State committee would be done on October 15.