With the Lok Sabha elections being held during peak summer, the searing heat poses a challenge to candidates who are literally sweating it out as they criss-cross their constituencies in the central region.
The mercury came close to 40 degrees Celsius in Tiruchi and crossed the mark at K. Paramathi (40.2 degrees Celsius) in Karur on Monday. Thanjavur was relatively better at 38.5 degrees Celsius.
According to the weather report of the Regional Meteorological Centre, Chennai, the maximum temperature in Tiruchi was 1.6 degrees Celsius above normal and 3.1 degrees Celsius above normal in Karur.
The centre has forecast that the maximum temperature will be about 2-3 degrees above normal over the next few days in some pockets of Tamil Nadu.
In recent years, the maximum temperature in Tiruchi has been consistently touching the 40- degree Celsius mark in April. The harsh weather poses a challenge to candidates and campaign managers. Most of them start the campaign early in the day, around 7 a.m. and wind up the forenoon session by 11 a.m. before resuming the campaign after 4 p.m. to avoid the sweltering heat during the day.
“The hot weather does pose a challenge but candidates and party workers have no choice but to adapt as they have to criss-cross the constituency. Most candidates break the campaign by 11 a.m. or so and resume by 4 p.m. At campaign meetings, speakers curtail their speeches; in most meetings long-winded speeches are avoided these days,” said R. Suresh, city secretary, Communist Party of India.
The weather brings some attendant health issues in workers. For instance, “many workers catch a cold or pick up viral fever after spending time in the hot weather and we have to make allowances for such dropouts,” he said.
However, an office-bearer of a party said candidates have no choice but to brave the weather as they have to cover all areas in the constituency at least once and cannot afford to ignore any section of the electorate.
He pointed out that some candidates such as K.N. Arun Nehru of the DMK in Perambalur consitutency brave the unkind weather with a gruelling day-long campaign schedule, with short breaks in between, to cover as much ground as possible.
