Scorching sun makes contestants campaign in cooler hours

Rising mercury this summer has made the contestants opt for cooler hours for their campaign for the May 5 assembly polls in Karnataka.

Many contestants have changed their strategies, rescheduling their canvassing for the early or later part of the day and opting for campaigning in shifts. It is either breakfast meetings or much later after sunset when people are ready to unwind and more receptive to listen to them.

A tour of core Bangalore showed not much heat and dust had been raised by candidates or their followers so far.

Maridevaru, Congress candidate from Ramanagara segment who is taking on former Chief Minister and  JD(S) state President Kumaraswamy, prefers door-to-door campaigns till late night and conducts group meetings in the morning hours.

According to a close associate of Maridevaru, every minute is precious as he (Maridevaru) is contesting against a strong candidate. The scorching sun has become a problem during field visits, he said.

A supporter and aide of Dr C N Ashwath Narayan, sitting BJP MLA from Malleswaram who has sought re-election, said his leader preferred breakfast meetings with focus groups in the constituency.

The target audience of such meetings include businessmen, religious heads, resident welfare associations and youth groups.

Ashwath, a fitness freak and a regular jogger, utilises his jogging time to familiarise himself with the public, shaking hands with walkers and senior citizens as part of his poll campaign, he said.