KOCHI: Campaigning for votes can be a challenge. More so, if the sun is beating down. So, while one candidate contesting in the LS polls has placed two air coolers in his open jeep and wears cotton clothes to beat the heat, another carries tender coconut water in bottles to stay cool and hydrated.
Some drink lots of water and consume fruits. With the mercury scaling new heights and LS elections just three weeks away, it is testing time for candidates who are on a campaigning spree, sweating it out in the sweltering heat to woo voters.
Most candidates are taking a break from 11 am to 3 pm to avoid dehydration and sunstroke. The summer is taking a toll on the health of party cadre, who reach every nook and cranny of the constituency to meet maximum voters in person.
Punishing heat saps those on election campaign trail
ACTOR and MP Innocent, the CPM candidate for Chalakudy constituency says: “I started acting in films decades ago, when there were no caravans. We, as film actors, are used to working under the hot sun. However, it is too hot this summer. I have stopped campaigning from 11 am to 3 pm as it will put the health of our workers at risk. People are not willing to come out during noons fearing sunburn.” On being trolled online for using two air coolers in his campaign vehicle, Innocent simply laughs.
“I removed one of the air coolers as it was restricting my movement. I drink lots of water and eat fruits to avoid dehydration,” he says. Palakkad district and Punalur in Kollam are the hottest places in Kerala with mercury hovering around 41 degree Celsius. The summer heat is sucking the state dry and the upswing in temperature is devastating the health and livelihood of the common man. However, UDF candidate for Palakkad VK Sreekandan says the intense heat, though unbearable, has not affected his campaign. “As DCC president, I had conducted a 25-day ‘padayatra’ in the district covering 400 km. This helped me get accustomed with the hot weather.
However, our workers are struggling to cope with the summer heat. So, we are taking a one-hour break for lunch,” says Sreekandan. His opponent and incumbent Palakkad MP M B Rajesh of CPM says he has adjusted his diet to beat the heat. “I am avoiding meat and have included more vegetables in my menu. I am also drinking more water,” says Rajesh. He says though they decided to avoid campaigning from 11 am to 3 pm, it was not practical. “On Thursday, our morning schedule ended at 2.30 pm and we restarted our tour at 3.45 pm. It is impossible to restrict our campaign hours as many workers will be waiting for hours. Yesterday, a 90-year-old man came to greet me.
He had waited under the scorching sun for three hours. How can we ignore them,” says Rajesh. K Surendran, the BJP candidate for Pathanamthitta, says the heat has adversely affected his campaign. “We campaigned from dawn to dusk in the past four days. However, in view of the intense heat, we have decided to restrict the campaign hours,” he says. He says he does not follow any special diet, but drinks lots of water. “We will be campaigning from 8 am to 11 am and 4 pm to 8 pm in the coming days.
During noon, I plan to meet important people personally,” he says. N K Premachandran, UDF candidate for Kollam, says the heat is taking a toll on the party’s foot soldiers engaged in door-to-door campaign. “Our Punalur area campaign manager Nasar Khan suffered sunstroke during campaigning. We are taking all precautions to avoid such incidents. However, we have not regulated campaign timings. I consume more water to keep myself fit,” he said.