Amid heat wave, candidates schedule campaigns wisely in Kozhikode

Kozhikode faces heat wave warnings during election campaign, candidates adjust schedules to avoid peak temperatures.

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 month-long fasting begins on Tuesday and also because of the heat wave,” said P.M. Niyas, campaign manager for M.K. Raghavan, the UDF candidate. That the campaign period mostly overlaps with the month of Ramadan may affect the intensity of the campaign. “We cannot refrain from going out. But we can time it to ensure that the heat does not affect the campaign,” Mr. Niyas said.

The DDMA has issued a warning about heat right in mid-February, 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.