Odisha: Congress hopefuls submit nominations as Koraput’s temperature approaches 400 degrees

On Friday, Saptagiri Ulaka, a sitting MP and Congress contender for the Koraput Lok Sabha constituency, braved the intense heat to submit his nomination papers.

Ulaka submitted his papers before election officer V Keerthi Vasan after a road show that saw him march to the collector’s office with hundreds of Congress workers and district leaders from Koraput and Rayagada in tow. There were around 5,000 Congress employees present during the road show.

In attendance were Tara Prasad Bahinipati, a candidate for the Congress from the Jeypore Assembly seat, Krushna Kuldip, a contender for Koraput, and Ram Chandra Kadam, a candidate for Pottangi. Kadam and Kuldip both submitted their nominations for their respective seats on the same day.

Speaking to reporters, Ulaka said that because of the improvements made to the area while he was an MP, voters will choose to re-elect him from the Koraput LS seat. “In the next elections, Congress candidates will perform better in every seat in the tribal region,” he said.

As this was going on, temperatures in several areas of Koraput reached as high as 40 degrees Celsius. During peak hours, marketplaces, commercial establishments, and other institutions seemed vacant, throwing normal life out of gear. In addition to local roadways, the hot weather also affects traffic on state and federal routes. According to sources, Koraput often sees days with a maximum temperature of 38 degrees Celsius in the second week of April and May. However, this year’s temperatures have reached 40 degrees Celsius, which is miserable for the locals.

In contrast to past years, the area has not had any rainfall this month, which many people think has made the hot situation worse.