BJP leader Sonali Phogat (42) dies of heart attack
Haryana Bharatiya Janata Party leader and actor Sonali Phogat died after suffering a heart attack in Goa on Monday night. She was 42. Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar and BJP state chief Om Prakash Dhankhar have expressed grief over her demise. To recall, Phogat unsuccessfully contested from Adampur in the 2019 Haryana Assembly elections against Kuldeep Bishnoi, who has now switched to the BJP.
"She [Phogat] was with some of her associates in Goa. We heard about an hour ago that she suffered a cardiac arrest and passed away in the wee hours," Captain Bhupender, the BJP's Hisar district president, stated on Tuesday morning. "Certain formalities are being completed there at Goa, after which her body shall be brought to Haryana," he added.
Phogat was reportedly a renowned TikTok star who also featured in the 14th edition of the popular television show Bigg Boss. Previously, she was a host for Hisar Doordarshan and had also appeared in Ameet Choudhary's web series The Story of Badmashgar (2019). She had also appeared in a TV serial titled Amma, as well as a few Haryanvi films.
Phogat joined the BJP in 2008 and rose through the ranks, becoming the national vice-president of the party's Mahila Morcha while leading the BJP's tribal wings in Haryana, Delhi, and Chandigarh. Meanwhile, Bishnoi joined the BJP last month and resigned as an MLA. He met with Phogat last week amid reports that she would be the BJP candidate in the Adampur by-elections.
Phogat was born in Bhuthan, a small village in Hisar, on September 21, 1979. Her father is reportedly a farmer and she has three sisters and one brother. She lost her husband, Sanjay Phogat, in 2016. She is survived by her daughter Yashodhara Phogat.
