The Bharatiya Janata Party has picked TikTok star and TV actress Sonali Phogat for the Jat-dominated Adampur seat in Haryana. Ms Phogat, who has over 1 lakh followers on the video-sharing platform, will take on Congress MLA Kuldeep Bishnoi, the son of three-time Chief Minister Bhajan Lal.
On TikTok, Ms Phogat regularly shares videos of her lip-syncing Bollywood songs. Her recent videos are viral on the internet.
While she has many followers online, fighting the election battle on Congress turf will be a new challenge for the greenhorn activist.
Adampur constituency, located along the Haryana-Rajasthan border, is dominated by the Bishnoi family.
Bhajan Lal has won the Adampur seat eight times since 1969. His wife, Jasma Devi, and son Kuldeep Bishnoi won the seat once each in 1987 and 1998.
Mr Bishnoi's Gurgaon hotel worth Rs 150 crore was attached by the Income Tax department in August as a benami asset. His wife Renuka Bishnoi represents the Hansi seat in the state Assembly, but has been denied the Congress ticket this year.
The couple had won the 2014 Assembly election as the Haryana Janhit Congress (HJC) candidates. The party was later merged with the Congress in 2016.
Their son, Bhavya Bishnoi, had unsuccessfully contested the Lok Sabha elections from the Hisar parliamentary seat as a Congress candidate.
Elections to the 90-member Haryana Assembly will take place on October 21 and results will be declared on October 24.
(With inputs from ANI)
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