Amid heat wave, candidates schedule campaigns wisely
Kozhikode likely to experience temperature ranging from 33 to 37 degrees Celsius during the day
The District Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) has issued warnings of a heat wave even as Kozhikode recorded a temperature of 36 degrees Celsius at noon on Monday. In the midst of the election heat though, candidates and party workers are battling the heat in their own way.
“We have scheduled the campaign in such a way that our candidate does not have to be in the open from noon to at least 3 p.m.,” said A. Pradeep Kumar, who schedules the campaign for Elamaram Kareem, the Left Democratic Front (LDF) candidate for the Kozhikode Lok Sabha constituency. Party workers who are in charge of mobilising people and organising events too prefer to stay indoors during peak hours. “Our candidate mostly attends meetings or rests during these hours and meets people personally either in the morning or late afternoon and even early evening,” Mr. Pradeep Kumar said.
Meanwhile, the United Democratic Front (UDF) camp is also concerned about the month of Ramadan during which a large number of its workers would be fasting throughout the day. “We have made sure that we have only indoor programmes for the next two weeks as the monthlong fasting begins on Tuesday and also because of the heat wave,” said P.M. Niyas, campaign manager for M.K. Raghavan, the UDF candidate.
DDMA warning
The DDMA has issued a warning about heat right in midFebruary, asking people not to be in direct sunlight for long periods between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. and to make footwear, umbrellas/ hats a habit while outdoors. Since the district is expected to experience a temperature ranging from 33 to 37 degrees Celsius during the day for at least 10 more days, the election heat would be confined indoors temporarily.