# Dr Sharmila Sarkar, a physician by profession was shocked to see a bunch of elderly women waiting to receive the Trinamul Congress candidate for Bardhaman Purba seat amidst the blazing sun at Ray Para village in Katwa but Dr Ghosh made no delay in sending them back home saying: “Elections will come and go, but you should take care of your precious life first.”
# Dilip Ghosh, the BJP candidate from Bardhaman Durgapur seat was seen distributing manual hand fans (bearing lotus print) among the voters at Bolgona and Burdwan Townhall to help beat the heat. He said, “This fan will bring a breeze for your life.”
# Dr Subhas Sarkar, the BJP candidate gets down from his campaign vehicle in Bankura town, picks up a bucket full of water and unloaded on a roadside beggar who’s seen gasping for a respite on a day the town recorded 46.5 degrees Celsius, the highest in Bengal yesterday.
Deaths due to extreme heat, up by 55 per cent since 2004 in India and in 2015, 1,908 people had succumbed to the menace, the highest annual deaths.
Party candidates on Earth Day, today tried to convince the voters to save the ‘Mother Earth’. The political leaders stressed on extensive plantation and protecting trees to combat the menace of global warming. They, besides asking the voters not to get exposed to the ensuing extreme heat conditions, have also expressed inability of reaching to the voter’s quarters due to the heat in the prime time of morning hours, especially in the south Bengal districts these days. Candidates from both, the Opposition and the ruling camp, have found a common narrative: mass destruction of vegetation over the decades and people’s casual approaches in afforestation has accelerated the destruction of nature.” The Section 6 of the Protection & Conservation of Trees Act prescribed harsh measures, cash fine for tree felling without permission.
Compared to last general elections, rising global temperature due to climate change has invited heat waves more frequent and intense as the country’s average annual temperature has increased by 17 degrees Celsius. The World Bank was told by the Indian Meteorological Department.
Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, the West Bengal Pradesh Congress president and the Congress candidate for the Berhampur Lok Sabha seat said, “It’s quite usual that the summer spell causes inconvenience to both, the candidates and the voters. But, it’s just because we all have become habitual offenders in matters linked to nature and environment. The Congress first introduced the police of forestation through green movement. The others, especially in Bengal never pursued the same with a serious concern.”