Former Indian Hockey captain Prabodh Tirkey joins Congress in Odisha

Former Indian hockey captain Prabodh Tirkey on Monday joined the Congress at the party's Odisha unit headquarters here and expressed his desire to contest the assembly elections next year.

He joined the party in the presence of Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee president Sarat Pattanayak, its state in-charge A Chella Kumar and other senior leaders.

The former hockey player has expressed his desire to contest the next assembly elections from the Talsara segment in the tribal-dominated Sundergarh district.

Tirkey said he decided to join the party as the "work of Rahul Gandhi deeply influenced" him and asserted that his family has a "long association with the Congress".

Claiming that the people in the Talsara area are "neglected", he said the "tribals do not get any benefit from government schemes".

Tirkey 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 played 135 international matches for the country.