Kolkata, February 27 Swapna Barman, the athlete who brought international accolades to India in heptathlon, joined the Trinamool Congress at the party headquarters here on Friday.
Barman, who belongs to the Rajbongshi community of North Bengal, received the Trinamool Congress flag from 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 just a couple of months before the state assembly elections, 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.
