Athlete Swapna Barman joins TMC

Kolkata, Feb 27 (PTI) Athlete Swapna Barman, who brought accolades to India at the international level in heptathlon, on Friday joined the Trinamool Congress at the party headquarters here.

Barman, who belongs to the Rajbongshi community of north Bengal, was handed the Trinamool Congress flag by state ministers Bratya Basu and Chandrima Bhattacharya, in the presence of Siliguri Mayor Goutam Deb.

Barman won the gold medal at the 2018 Asian Games and secured first place in heptathlon at the 2017 Asian Athletics Championships.

Joining the ruling TMC with the state's assembly elections barely a couple of months away, Barman said, "Inspired by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's struggles and rise from the grassroots level, I decided to join the party." "We welcome her into our party. I am reminded of the films 'Chak De' and 'Dangal' today," said Basu, who is also a dramatist and actor, maintaining that while those films were based on fiction, Swapna Barman's achievements are real.

"From the Trinamool Congress family, we want to say 'Chak De Swapna'," he said. PTI AMR ACD