Cadres brave intense heat to campaign in Dakshina Kannada
MANGALURU: Outdoor campaigning for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections has become a challenging task for candidates and their party cadres as Dakshina Kannada district has been witnessing extreme temperatures.
Sudarshan, former Dakshina Kannada BJP president, said door-to-door campaigning in rural areas is tough as houses are scattered.
“We have completed the first round of door-to-door campaigning. We are covering a maximum of 100 houses a day. Due to steady rise in temperature in the past few days, we start outdoor campaigning early in the morning and wind up by 11.30 am and start again by 4 pm and continue till late night. Even voters provide us drinking water. Also we are restricting senior party members from venturing out in the sun for campaign work, especially at noon,” he said.
Another BJP worker said, “We are making people from an area or a colony gather at a designated place. We keep ourselves hydrated. However, we do not have any other option but to go out and work for our candidate though there are hurdles,” she said.
Prashanth, who is part of the campaign team of the Congress candidate, said they are distributing caps to party workers to protect themselves from the scorching heat.
“In rural areas, houses are scattered and we have to walk a lot where there are no approach roads. Rising temperature has also affected in gathering people for our public meetings. We carry water and fruits to keep ourselves hydrated. Also, I wear mostly cotton clothes,” he said.