ROURKELA: Former India hockey captain Prabodh Tirkey’s tryst with politics has been ironically painful after the Congress dumped him by cancelling his nomination from Talsara Assembly seat in the tribal-dominated Sundargarh district.
A popular figure in the region, the 39-year-old former star player has been replaced with a lesser-known new entrant in Congress Debendra Bhitiria.
A visibly emotional Prabodh said he felt insulted at the shocking and unceremonious treatment by the Congress. “I don’t know why my candidature was dropped. The Congress should not have made me a candidate in the first place. When I started campaigning in the constituency, I was abruptly dropped. I am feeling insulted as they (Congress) didn’t even show the courtesy to explain me the reason,” he said.
A senior Congress leader said the party might have thought of securing the votes of the dominating Bhuiyan community through Bhitiria as out of 14 elections held so far, Bhuiyan candidates have won 13 times.
The former hockey star joined Congress on September 4 last year and the party announced his nomination in its first list on April 2. However, he was replaced with Bhitiria in another list released by the Congress on Sunday evening.
Bhitiria, a former government employee belonging to the Bhuiyan community, had unsuccessfully contested as sarpanch from Subdega panchayat in February 2022. He joined Congress in December 2023.
Prabodh said he tried to contact the president of Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) Sarat Pattanayak and AICC Odisha in-charge Ajoy Kumar, but they did not respond.
Equally surprised are the senior Congress leaders in the district who apprehend that the party would find it increasingly hard to defend its ‘self-destructive’ decision as Prabodh is seen as a national pride.
In fact, the demoralised Congress rank and file in the constituency was upbeat after finding a popular and high-profile candidate with wide acceptance among the villagers of Talsara.
Retired government hockey coach and Congress supporter Sylvestor Toppo said the party’s decision is ‘suicidal’ and would adversely impact Congress’ performance in the entire district. The decision makers in Congress should have known the widespread popularity and acceptance of Prabodh among the tribal masses of the constituency before dealing with him in an unceremonious way.
District Congress committee president and the party’s Sundargarh Lok Sabha candidate Janardan Dehury said he was neither consulted not informed about the decision by the party bosses.
BJP’s Sundargarh organisational district president and sitting MLA of Talsara Bhabani Shankar Bhoi threw his weight behind Prabodh and said by showing disrespect to the icon, the Congress has offended the hockey-crazy people of the district and the tribal masses.
Prabodh is a native of Nuapada under Lulkidihi Mouza in Balishankara which is considered the cradle of field hockey. He is the younger brother of another hockey great Ignace Tirkey. The Balishankara block is credited to have produced dozens of high profile international hockey players including the legendary Dilip Tirkey, the BJD’s Lok Sabha (LS) candidate from Sundargarh.