Bhubaneswar: Former India hockey captain Prabodh Tirkey formally joined the Congress in the presence of senior party leaders in Bhubaneswar on Monday.
The international hockey star joined the party in the presence of OPCC president Sarat Pattanayak, party’s state in-charge A Chellakumar, state unit campaign committee chairman Bijay Patnaik and former PCC chief Niranjan Patnaik at the Congress Bhawan in Bhubaneswar.
Apart from Tirkey, several others including Biju Janata Dal’s (BJD) former Bhubaneswar Organisational District secretary Prasanta Champati, also joined the Congress. Champati was expelled from the ruling party earlier in the day for anti-party activities.
Tirkey said he decided to join the Congress as he was deeply influenced and inspired by the impressive work of Rahul Gandhi. “Moreover, I have always been influenced by the ideology of the Congress,” he said.
Prabodh, a native of Lulkidihi Village under Balishankra Block in tribal dominated Sundargarh district, is keen to contest next Assembly election from Talsara constituency.
Lamenting that the people in his area are neglected as the tribals are not getting any benefit from government schemes, Tirkey said he wants to contest from Talsara to serve the people of the area and work for the development of the region.
Senior Congress leaders, including Chellakumar and Pattanayak expressed the hope that Tirkey’s entry into the party will strengthen the organisation in the state ahead of the next elections.
Born on October 6, 1984, Prabodh made his debut in the Junior Asia Cup in 2000. He was the national captain of sub-junior, junior and India-A teams and finally became the India senior team captain.
He was in the Indian team, which won the 2007 Asia Cup in Chennai. He has a total of 135 international caps.
Tirkey was conferred with the Ekalavya Puraskar in 2001 and Biju Patnaik State Sports Award in 2009.
