Focus on indoor campaigning during Ramzan
Women taking a selfie with Indian Union Muslim League candidate in Malappuram E.T. Mohammed Basheer. idsummer electioneering is hard for candidates and party workers alike. It becomes harder for Muslim candidates and their poll managers as they are through the Ramzan fasting. With one more week to go in for Ramzan, all Muslim candidates are apparently refraining themselves from going all out. Rather they have been focussing more on indoor electioneering during the days of Ramzan.
Most Muslim candidates, particularly of the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), have rejigged their electioneering schedules during Ramzan. Candidates such as E.T. Mohammed Basheer, M.P. Abdussamad Samadani and K.S. Hamza (who represents the Left Democratic Front in Ponnani) have been starting their daily electioneering routine as early as 8 a.m., covering houses, business establishments, educational institutions and public offices. They have been avoiding public rallies, meetings and roadshows in Ramzan. Candidates such as Shafi Parambil (Vadakara), Elamaram Kareem (Kozhikode), V. Vaseef, and M. Abdul Salam (Malappuram) too are falling in line.
Midday breaks for them are longer than usual, during which some of them reach out to the voters individually over phone. “We stay away from direct and long exposure to the sun during the fasting time,” said Iqbal Erambath, one of the election managers for Mr. Basheer.
M“Drink as much water as you can at night. Tender coconut water is the best,” P.A. Kabeer, physician and managing director of Almas Hospital, Kottakkal, was seen advising Mr. Samadani at an Iftar in Malappuram recently. Most candidates have multiple Iftars every day. After sunset, there is hardly any electioneering for them.