Gurugram: Nearly two years after the actor-politician from Haryana, Sonali Phogat, died under mysterious circumstances during a trip to Goa, her younger sister Rukesh Poonia is preparing to contest the upcoming assembly elections from the same seat her sister did in 2019 — Adampur.
However, unlike Sonali, who contested as a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate, Rukesh is looking to run on a Congress ticket. She joined the party four months ago.
Sonali died under mysterious circumstances in August 2022 during a trip to Goa. After a long investigation that found evidence of blunt force injuries and drugs, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in November that year charged two of her associates, Sudhir Sagwan and Sukhwinder Wasi, with her murder.
Thirty-eight-year-old Rukesh, who is three years younger than Sonali, applied Wednesday for the Congress ticket from the Adampur assembly seat, a stronghold of former chief minister Bhajan Lal’s family that is represented in the Vidhan Sabha by his grandson, Bhavya Bishnoi.
In 2019, Sonali was defeated by Bhavya’s father, Kuldeep Bishnoi, who was in the Congress at the time. Bishnoi defeated Phogat by a margin of 29,471 votes, garnering 63,693 votes against Phogat’s 34,222 votes. Jannayak Janta Party (JJP) candidate Ramesh Godara came in third with 15,457 votes. Bishnoi joined the BJP in August 2022.
“She submitted her application in the state Congress office in Chandigarh Wednesday,” said Rukesh’s husband, Aman Poonia.
To carry forward her sister’s political legacy, Rukesh has been actively campaigning in Adampur, holding meetings with Sonali’s supporters. Rukesh told The Print Thursday that there was no justice for her sister under the BJP, and, if the Congress nominates her, she will seek justice for her sister and challenge the Bishnoi family in Adampur.
Rukesh joins Congress Party
Rukesh was inducted into Congress four months ago by senior party leader and MP Deepender Hooda. At the event in Hisar, she accused the BJP of saying one thing but doing another. She cited the case of the sexual harassment scandal in the Wrestling Federation of India and the various protests by farmers.
She said that the party claimed to respect women, but women who have brought home medals were not respected. It claimed to respect the farmers who feed the entire country, but they were being forced to sit on the roads.
“When Didi (Sonali) was alive, the family was discussing if she should continue in the party or switch to the Congress after Kuldeep Bishnoi joined the BJP. She knew the BJP wouldn’t give her the ticket as long as Bishnoi was in the party. Before she could make a decision, she passed away suddenly in August 2022. Her party (BJP) didn’t support the family at all in our pursuit of justice for Sonali. Even though the case went to the CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation) with our efforts, we don’t know what the CBI is doing,” Rukesh told The Print over the phone Thursday.
In the by-election for the Adampur Assembly seat held in November 2022, Rukesh said that she worked for the Congress candidate Jai Parkash even though she had not formally joined the party. “In the Lok Sabha polls held in May this year, I was already a member of the Congress and worked hard for Jai Parkash, this time the Lok Sabha candidate, and contributed my efforts in the Adampur assembly segment for his victory,” she added.
“After Didi’s sudden demise, when the BJP didn’t offer any help in getting us justice, a Sarva Khap Panchayat was held at Jat Dharamshala in Hisar, chaired by Kandela Khap president Tekram Kandela, on Sonali Phogat’s murder. Her daughter Yashodhara and other family members were present. They expressed their intention to continue Sonali’s political legacy. Together, the family and the khap directed me to take on the political legacy,” she explained.
Rukesh has been actively participating in the programmes of Bhupinder Singh Hooda and Deepender Hooda in Hisar. Her social media is full of pictures and reels of her with various Congress leaders, including Bhupinder Singh Hooda, party’s state president Udai Bhan, Deepender Hooda, Jai Parkash and Mahindragarh MLA Rao Dan Singh.
Her husband, Aman Poonia, a property consultant, resides in Hisar’s Urban Estate, though his family is originally from Sat Road Kala in Hisar district. “Like Didi, I, too, spent my childhood in Balsamand village of Adampur assembly seat, where my maternal grandfather’s family lives. So I have a deep connection with the area,” Rukesh said.
Among the five siblings, Rukesh is the youngest of the three sisters, but older than the two brothers.
Death under mysterious circumstances
Born on 21 September, 1979, in Boothan village of Fatehabad, Haryana, Sonali initially worked as an anchor for Doordarshan in Hisar before joining the entertainment industry. She appeared on several TV shows and Haryanvi films. She was also known for her work in Hindi television, including as a contestant on the 14th season of the reality TV show Bigg Boss.
Sonali was an actress, politician, and social media personality who was very active on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok till it was banned in India. In 2008, Sonali entered politics as a national vice president of the BJP Manila Morcha. She was married to Sanjay Phogat, who passed away in 2016.
On 23 August 2022, at 42, Sonali was declared dead at St. Anthony Hospital in Anjuna in North Goa. State police registered a murder case after a post-mortem report revealed blunt force injuries on her body. Sonali had been accompanied on the trip by her personal assistants Sudhit and Sukhwinder.
Sonali’s family had alleged that the two had killed. Sudhir, they claimed, wanted Sonali’s property, so he killed her by giving her drugs. Goa police also said Sonali had been forcibly drugged. In November 2022, the CBI filed a chargesheet charging Sudhir and Sangwan with the murder of Sonali. The trial is in progress and both accused are currently out on bail.
She is survived by one daughter, Yashodhara.
(Edited by Sanya Mathur)
Also read: Sonali Phogat’s autopsy finds ‘multiple injuries’ on body, family claims rape, poisoning