There has been no respite from the scorching summer heat in Kozhikode district with the daytime temperatures continuing to be 3 degrees Celsius above normal for close to a month now.
Just a week to go for the culmination of the Lok Sabha election campaign, candidates of mainstream political formations are braving the heat that is building up in the political arena too.
The maximum temperature recorded at 8.30 a.m. on Saturday in Kozhikode city was 36.5 degrees Celsius, and the minimum was 28 degrees Celsius. The maximum temperature was 3 degrees Celsius above normal, and the minimum temperature was 1.6 degrees above normal.
On Sunday too, the maximum and minimum temperatures are expected to be abnormal. Sunburn cases are being reported almost every day, with around 200 people seeking treatment in various parts of the district in the past one month alone. There have been cases of chicken pox and acute diarrhoeal disease too. Besides, there are reports of water scarcity, and the district administration has issued guidelines for water tankers to be deployed in such areas.
Meanwhile, candidates are sweating it out as the campaign will come to a close on April 21. M.K. Raghavan, UDF candidate in Kozhikode, is reportedly making efforts to overcome the setback following a Hindi news channel report in which he purportedly makes claims about his poll expenditure.
The campaign team members of his opponent, A. Pradeep Kumar, however, are careful enough not to mention the controversy frequently though social media accounts operated by activists, and sympathisers of both the fronts are agog with accusations and counter-accusations. K.P. Prakash Babu, the NDA candidate, who has just been released on bail in a case related to the Sabarimala violence, is trying to make up for the lost time. The meeting addressed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday in Kozhikode is reported to have energised the party cadre.
In Vadakara, where one of the keenly watched electoral battles this time around is on, LDF candidate P. Jayarajan and K. Muraleedharan of the UDF are reportedly making last-ditch efforts to ensure that they do not lose out on votes of party sympathisers and fellow-travellers. The campaign of V.K. Sajeevan, the NDA candidate, is reportedly not so alive though the BJP hopes to retain its tally in the 2014 polls.
However, there could be some relief from heat in the district in the next three days as the Thiruvananthapuram centre of the India Meteorological Department has forecast rain.