Who is Sonali Phogat? BJP leader and actor who died of heart attack in Goa

BJP leader and actor Sonali Phogat reportedly died of heart attack in Goa on Monday night. Phogat contested the 2019 assembly polls from Haryana's Adampur constituency on BJP ticket against Kuldeep Bishnoi.

She is survived by her daughter.

The 42-year-old politician had also appeared on 14th edition of popular reality tv show Bigg Boss.

Who is Sonali Phogat?

Sonali was born in September 1979 to a farmer couple in Haryana and grew up in Hisar with her three sisters. She also has one brother. The BJP leader was married to Sanjay Phogat and has a daughter with him. Her husband died under mysterious circumstances in 2016.

Phogat reportedly debuted in 2006 with a Doordarshan show which she anchored. She later turned to acting and has also worked with stellar actors like Jimmy Shergill, Ravi Kishan and others. She was seen in daily soap Amma.

Phogat joined BJP in the year 2008 and eventually became National Vice President of BJP Mahila Morcha. She also worked for the welfare of Tribal community in Jharkhand and Madhya Pradesh which led to her being named as in charge of BJP's Tribal wing in Haryana, Delhi and Chandigarh.

Sonali Phogat courted controversy when she slapped an official Sultan Singh with her footwear for allegedly making inappropriate comment about her. She had approached Singh, member of Apricultural Produce Market Committee to speak about issues being faced by farmers.

Phogat was earlier embroiled in another controversy over her speech during a rallly at a village in Hisar.

Published on: Tuesday, August 23, 2022, 11:43 AM IST