Olympian Dilip Tirkey is all set to become Member of Parliament

Athens’ Olympics Indian hockey captain Dilip Tirkey is all set to enter another sphere in his illustrious career. The first player in the world to cross 400 caps, will be filing his nomination today in Bhubneswar for Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament on behalf of ruling party, Biju Janata Dal.

Indian parliament is in two tiers – Lok Shabha and Rajya Sabha. The lower house (Lok Sabha) members are elected directly from public vote once in five years, while upper house (Rajya Sabha) are elected by the Members of Legislative Assembly (Provincial Assemblies) with six year tenure.

With the kind of strength Biju Janata Dal has right now, the election of Dilip TIrkey, which is scheduled on March 30, is only a formality.

Dilip, being a sporting icon of Orissa, has been an attraction for many political parties, which has been wooing him ever since he hung his shoes after 2006.

Dilip, a highlu decorated player with Arjuna and Padmashree Awards, has appeal in the sprawling tribal belt of Orissa, and this coupled with his affable and simple nature makes him a potential leader.

For record, Dilip will be the first Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament from hockey fraternity — where not only politicians but also high profile, performing artists, industrialists, cine stars – though personalities like Aslam Sher Khan and before that Jaipal Singh entered Parliament through public vote (lower house).

Only recently Pargat Singh, with whom Dilip paired in the defence of 1996 Olympics, got elected to Punjab Legislative Assembly after defeating his rival by over 6000 votes.

Dilip has been quite active after taking retirement from hockey; having been in a film, attending large number of functions, being a Government Nominee of Hockey.

He has now resigned from this post, and also from Air India where he worked since changed over from Railway Coach Factory in the mid 1990s.

Note: This writer authored a book on him, ‘Olympic captain Dilip Tirkey’ in 2005. It was released by Naveen Patnaik, Chief Minister of Orissa, and President of Biju Janata Dal.