TikTok star and BJP candidate Sonali Phogat, who contested from Haryana's Adampur assembly constituency, lost the election with a margin of 29,471 votes to Congress candidate Kuldeep Bishnoi.
BJP leader and vice president of Haryana Mahila Morcha got party's ticket due to her huge popularity but even then she failed to secure a seat.
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Sonali Phogat has over 2 lakh followers on viral video-sharing app TikTok. It was expected that due to such a huge popularity and followers of Sonali's on the video-sharing app, many of them had translated into votes, however, it didn't happen.
Sonali Phogat has been with the party for over a decade. During the 'Harayan Ke Maan Ki Baat' event, Sonali spoke about her journey from being a TikTok celebrity to politics. "My political journey began 12 years back but I joined TikTok just a year ago."
She added that the BJP government in Haryana performed better than the previous ones. On being asked about the major issues she will be taking during her campaign, Phogat had said, "Water and electricity are the major issues in the state, which immediately needs to be addressed. People here are also suffering because of poor conditions of roads."
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During the campaign, she was pulled into a controversy after she lashed out at a group of people during a rally for not chanting 'Bharat Mata ki Jai' and asked if they are from Pakistan.
Phogat during a rally in Balsamand (Hisar) earlier insisted that people chant 'Bharat Mata ki Jai'. She made the remarks after a group of boys refused to raise the slogan.
"I was in Balsamand for a public rally, there were a few college students there. When I started speaking and raised slogans of 'Bharat Mata ki Jai', those boys did not raise the slogans. I was angry and asked them if they have come from Pakistan."
Offering her apologies she said, "I apologise if I have hurt someone's sentiments but all I wanted was to tell them that we should say 'Bharat Mata ki Jai' to give respect to our nation."
