Former India hockey captain Prabodh Tirkey has joined the Congress party in Bhubaneswar. He expressed his desire to contest the upcoming Assembly elections from Talsara, which is in the tribal-dominated Sundargarh district. Prabodh was officially inducted into the party at the Odisha unit headquarters, in the presence of Sarat Pattanayak, the president of the Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee, A Chella Kumar, the State in-charge, and other senior leaders.
Prabodh stated that he decided to join the party because he was deeply influenced by the work of Rahul Gandhi, and his family has a long association with the Congress. He mentioned that people in the Talsara area are neglected and that the tribals do not receive any benefits from government schemes.
Tirkey has had a successful career in hockey, making his debut in the Junior Asia Cup in 2000. He went on to become the national captain of sub-junior, junior, and India-A teams, eventually becoming the captain of the India senior team.
