TikTok star Sonali on Bishnoi’s family turf
HISAR : The Bhajan Lal bastion of Adampur is in for a curious contest. The BJP is banking on 40-year-old Sonali Phogat’s social media popularity to upstage Congress candidate Kuldeep Bishnoi, 51, the former chief minister’s son, on the family’s traditional turf.
A native of Bhutan Kalan in Fatehabad, Sonali already has 1.51 lakh followers on TikTok, a social media app for creating and sharing short videos. Since the day her candidature was declared, the number of her followers has seen a jump in the virtual world. Sonali, who lost her husband Sanjay Phogat to a heart attack in 2016, leaves nothing to chance. She has begun doorto-door campaigning. “My name was pitched for the Lok Sabha elections in May but it didn’t work out. This time, the party has entrusted me with the responsibility of Adampur. I’ll give it my best,” she says.
To Bishnoi’s recent remark that the people of Adampur will welcome her wholeheartedly and offer her halwa-puri (sweets) but not vote for her, Sonali says she is ready to withdraw from the contest if he promises to stay with the people of Adampur. “Everyone knows where Bishnoi stays. I promise I will stay with the people of Adampur and work for them round the clock.”
Starting her TV career as an anchor with national broadcaster Doordarshan two decades ago, Sonali explored the film industry but found success on social media. She took the plunge in politics after meeting Indore BJP MP and former Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan in 2013. “I was inspired by her work in her constituency and decided to become an MP, too. I joined the BJP soon after and senior party leaders asked me to focus on Hisar.”
She was appointed vicepresident of the Haryana BJP women’s wing besides being the regional director of the Haryana Kala Parishad in Hisar.
An unfazed Bishnoi, however, dismissed any challenge from Sonali. “She doesn’t know Adampur constituency or the names of its villages. Had a politician been fielded against me, it would’ve been interesting. I’ll win comfortably,” he says. Bishnoi won the 2014 assembly elections as the Haryana Janhit Congress leader and merged his party with the Congress two years later.