George Tirkey to join Congress

Bhubaneswar:  Prominent tribal leader and Biramitrapur MLA George Tirkey will join Congress on Wednesday.

Tirkey will join Congress in the presence of AICC president Rahul Gandhi in New Delhi on Wednesday.

The Congress party is likely to field the four-time MLA for Sundargarh Lok Sabha constituency in 2019 polls, sources said.

George had won the Biramitrapur Assembly segment in 1995 and 2000 on JMM ticket. In 2009 and 2014, George Tirkey was elected from Birmitrapur as Independent legislator.

Currently, Sundergarh constituency is represented by senior BJP leader and Union Tribal Affairs Minister Jual Oram. The ruling BJD is likely to field Dilip Tirkey, who had unsuccessfully contested from the parliamentary constituency in 2014.