Bhubaneswar, Sep 4: Former Indian Men’s Hockey Team captain Prabodh Tirkey joined the Indian National Congress at a function in Congress Bhawan here on Monday.
Tirkey was inducted into the party in the presence of Dr. A Chella Kumar, MP and in charge of Congress in Odisha, Pradesh Congress President Sharat Pattnaik, former party president Niranjan Pattnaik, and Campaign Committee Chairman Bijay Kumar Pattnaik, besides other senior party leaders of the party.
Later, talking to newsmen, Tirkey said he joined the Congress because he liked the ideology of the party and revealed his plan to contest the 2024 Assembly election from Talsara, which was a Congress bastion but is now held by the BJP.
The hockey player who had played 135 international hockey matches, said that although politics and sports are two different fields, he had a large support base in the Talsara Assembly constituency. Tirkey said he would soon visit the constituency and interact with the people.
When asked by newsmen, the former Indian hockey team captain said he was greatly influenced by Rahul Gandhi and accepted the offer to join Congress when the party leaders approached him.
