Congress drops ex-Indian hockey captain Prabodh Tirkey as candidate in Odisha

The Congress named freelance journalist Debendra Bhitria as Prabodh Tirkey’s replacement as it changed three candidates on Sunday

Published on: Apr 15, 2024, 13:35:46 IST

By Debabrata Mohanty

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The Congress has dropped former Indian hockey captain Prabodh Tirkey, 39, who led the country to victory in the 2007 Asia Cup championship, as its candidate from Odisha’s Talasara assembly constituency.

Prabodh Tirkey joined the Congress in September after quitting his job with Air India. (ANI)

Tirkey was named as the Congress’s candidate from the reserved seat for tribals on April 2. He joined the party in September after quitting his job with Air India.

“I am shattered. This is not the way to treat sportsmen who have represented the country. Since my name was announced, I have been campaigning hard and meeting people. If the party did not want to give me a ticket, why did they announce my name?” asked Tirkey, whose village Nuapada is known as a nursery of hockey.

The Congress named freelance journalist Debendra Bhitria as Tirkey’s replacement as it changed three candidates on Sunday.

A Congress leader in Talasara said Tirkey did not have any electoral experience, but the party rank and file was energised as the former hockey star was a known figure and people felt proud of him. “The region is known to be crazy for hockey. It was a good decision to give a ticket to Prabodh, who due to his affable nature had become popular during campaigning,” said the leader.

State Congress chief Sarat Pattanayak did not respond to queries on change of the candidature.

Talsara has been a Congress stronghold and the party won the seat nine out of 12 times between 1974 and 2019. Congress lawmaker Prafulla Majhi, the party’s face in the state’s tribal region, switched to ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) two years ago

The BJD has named former Indian hockey captain Dilip Tirkey as its candidate from Sundargarh Lok Sabha constituency against Bharatiya Janata Party’s Jual Oram. Dilip Tirkey lost to Oram in the 2014 Lok Sabha election by over 18000 votes.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Debabrata Mohanty
Debabrata Mohanty is a senior assistant editor of Hindustan Times who works as state correspondent from Odisha covering the state's politics, governance, public policy, natural disasters, environment and its society for close to three decades. With his long years of reporting from the state capital of Bhubaneswar, Mohanty has been known as one of the most experienced and credible journalists covering Odisha for the national English dailies. His reporting combines on-ground detail with deep institutional knowledge detailing the state's changing politics, governance issues, administrative reforms and the functioning of its public institutions. He has regularly reported on issues ranging from legislative developments and public policy implementation. Politics is his core areas of expertise as he closely tracks Odisha's political landscape, including the rise and transformation of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), the two principal political parties in Odisha. His long association with the state's political establishment enables him to write on contemporary developments in a larger political context. Mohanty takes a deep interest in writing human interest stories, environmental issues and documenting the impact of cyclones, floods, heatwaves, and other climate-related events in one of the most disaster-prone states. His coverage extends to public health, governance reforms and stories on accountability of government institutions. Before joining Hindustan Times, Mohanty worked with The Indian Express, Mail Today, and The Telegraph, where he covered at least six general elections and as many assembly elections. In 2007, he was selected for the prestigious Chevening Young Indian Print Journalist Programme at the University of Lincoln, United Kingdom, where he received advanced training in print journalism. In 2009 he won the Press Institute of India-International Committee of Red Cross award on conflict reporting for his on-ground reportage of 2008 Kandhamal riots.Read More

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