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2 wrestlers, a TikTok star & former hockey captain — how BJP’s stars fared in Haryana

The BJP was counting on celebrities to deliver some of the toughest constituencies, including three it had never won.

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New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party’s celebrity candidates haven’t left as bright a mark in the Haryana Assembly polls as was expected.

As the counting of votes in two state elections progressed, the BJP’s ambitious plans to recruit young, famous faces to fight some of their toughest seats in Haryana seem to have failed, with a sole exception.

Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar faced an unexpected challenge at the hands of the opposition up north as he eyed a second term. As of 7 pm, the Congress had won in 31 seats and Dushyant Chautala’s breakaway JJP had taken 11, making the BJP (40) second-guess its ticket distribution in the Jat-dominated region.

Not only do 20 of the party’s sitting MLAs seem headed for defeat, but BJP’s young, aspirational candidates — be it a TikTok star in Adampur or an Olympic medalist in Baroda — have decisively lost against seasoned politicians.

Here’s a quick round-up of the BJP stars that worked, and those that didn’t:

Sonali Phogat

TikTok star Sonali Phogat never had an easy task to begin with. The novice politician, primarily known for waving her saree along beaches, cycling in gyms, or crooning songs like Thug Ranjha, was fielded by the BJP to take on three-time Congress MLA Kuldeep Bishnoi, son of former chief minister Bhajan Lal.

Ironically, the Narendra Modi government had expressed concerns over the TikTok app — where Phogat has 1.20 lakh followers — and some associated outfits even sought to ban it.

Phogat, who contested from the Adampur assembly constituency, was trailing behind Kuldeep Bishnoi of Congress with a wide margin of 30,000 votes at the time of writing. The constituency has remained a stronghold for the Lal family for over five decades, and political experts told ThePrint earlier this month that Phogat was given the ticket despite her desire to fight from Nalwa, because no one else was willing to take on Bishnoi, who has been representing the constituency for three consecutive terms.

Born into a peasant family in the Fatehabad district of Haryana, the 40-year-old was a television actress. During her campaign trail, Phogat compared her fight in Adampur to Smriti Irani’s in Amethi — a Gandhi bastion that was expected to go to Rahul Gandhi without a fight.

“This (Adampur) is like Amethi was the bastion of the Gandhi family. But there is no development here,” she had said.


Also read: Haryana Jats give Dushyant Chautala’s JJP a thumbs up, party holds key in tight poll battle


Sandeep Singh

Former hockey captain Sandeep Singh joined the BJP with fellow sportsman Yogeshwar Dutt late September, and both were subsequently fielded as candidates for the Pehowa and Baroda constituencies, respectively. Their fates, however, have been markedly different. While Dutt lost Baroda, Singh struck gold in his own constituency, winning by a margin of 5,314 votes.

Singh’s victory is historic considering the Pehowa seat, dominated by Jat-Sikhs and located in Haryana’s Kurekshetra district, has traditionally been a Congress/INLD stronghold. Referred to as “Soorma” after the Daljit Dosanjh-starrer film made on his life, the 33-year-old from Kuruksheta defeated the Congress’s Mandeep Singh Chattha to clinch Pehowa.

“I want to serve the nation in every way. I will serve country and party in all earnestness,” Singh had said at the time of his induction to the BJP.

Babita Phogat

Despite being the ‘Dangal girl’ and adopting an aggressive campaigning style, wrestler-turned-politician Babita Phogat did not manage to make much of a mark in her electoral debut.

The Commonwealth-game medalist was fielded from Dadri, a tough constituency that BJP has never won. Independent candidate Sombir won the seat defeating his nearest rival, JJP’s Satpal Sangwan, by a margin of 14,272 votes. Phogat finished third.

Phogat was banking on her image of a strong female sportsperson and her identity as a member of the Jat community. Despite this, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi invoking her name in his campaign speeches, it seems the Dangal factor has fallen short.

In an interview earlier Thursday, Phogat said, “People have given me love and support, that is my strength and what keeps me going. I have faith in public and myself, people will give blessings to their daughter.”

It seems she will have to wait till the next election for more blessings.

Yogeshwar Dutt

Bronze medalist in the 2012-Olympic Games, wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt failed to win Haryana’s Baroda constituency for the BJP. Dutt gave up his post of a deputy superintendent in the Haryana Police, but voters did not respond to him. Like Phogat, he also faced a tough challenge in Baroda, another seat BJP has never won. The wrestler lost to Sri Krishan Hooda of the Congress by 4,840 votes.

Dutt had ambitious plans of starting kabaddi and hockey sports academies and hoped to create a rapport with his electorate through his humble campaigning style. However, it seems like the people of Baroda are not yet ready for a BJP representative.


Also read: Manohar Lal Khattar — the BJP dark horse who cost the party its Haryana edge


 

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