Published 06:38 IST, October 9th 2019
Sonali Phogat urges crowd to chant 'Bharat Mata ki Jai' at her rally
BJP's Adampur candidate & TikTok sensation Sonali Phogat asked a group of people if they were from Pakistan when they did not chant 'Bharat Mata ki Jai'.
BJP's Adampur candidate and TikTok sensation Sonali Phogat on Tuesday asked a group of people if they were from Pakistan when they did not chant 'Bharat Mata ki Jai' at her rally in the constituency.
"Pakistan se aaye ho kya? Pakistani ho kya? Agar Hindustan se aaye ho to Bharat Mata ki Jai bolo. (Have you come from Pakistan? Are you Pakistanis? If you are from India chant 'Bharat Mata ki Jai')," she told a few people in the crowd at the rally who remained silent after she asked the audience to raise the slogan.
Rally held in Blasamand in Adampur
The rally was held in Balsamand village in Adampur in Hisar district. Phogat (40) then repeated her chants of 'Bharat Mata ki Jai'. Turning to that section in the crowd again, on her right, she said, "I feel ashamed that people like you too are Indians, who would not chant 'Bharat Mata ki Jai' for petty politics." In a video of Phogat's purported outburst, which went viral on social media, she is seen further telling them, "Those who cannot say 'Bharat Mata ki Jai', their vote has no value".
"Shame on those who cannot chant 'Bharat Mata ki Jai."
‘Will defeat Bishnoi like Irani ousted Gandhi’
However, later during her speech, she promised to build a college in the area, which drew loud cheers and chants of 'Bharat Mata ki Jai' from the audience. Phogat, who is pitted against sitting Congress MLA Kuldeep Bishnoi, said she will defeat him like Smriti Irani ousted Rahul Gandhi from his stronghold Amethi. Later in the evening, the BJP candidate clarified her remarks, saying she did not dub the group of people in the crowd as "Pakistanis". "I asked them 'have you come from Pakistan'," she told the media in Adampur. She claimed that many of them were youths. They later met her and were apologetic for not chanting 'Bharat Mata ki Jai'.
Updated 08:26 IST, October 9th 2019