Chandigarh: The international wrestlers fielded by the ruling BJP, Babita Phogat and Yogeshwar Dutt, and TikTok star Sonali Phogat had to bite the dust in the Haryana elections, Thursday. The saving grace for the BJP was the win of former hockey captain Sandeep Singh, who was also fielded by the saffron party.
All the four joined the ruling party weeks before the polls October 21 polls.
Babita, fielded from Dadri in the Charkhi Dadri Assembly segment, was nowhere in the contest. In this Assembly constituency, Sombir, an Independent candidate defeated Jannayak Janata Party’s (JJP) Satpal Sangwan by a margin of 14,272 votes.
Congress’ Sri Krishan Hooda, the sitting legislator, defeated Yogeshwar Dutt from Baroda segment in Sonipat by a margin of 4,840 votes.
TikTok star Sonali Phogat had to face heavy defeat at the hands of sitting legislator and senior Congress leader Kuldeep Bishnoi from Adampur, who thrashed her by a margin of 29,471 votes.
However, Sandeep Singh won from Pehowa in Kurukshetra defeating Congress’ Mandeep Singh Chhattha by a margin of 5,314 votes.
Former chief of Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) Ranbir Singh Mahendra, a Congress candidate, had to taste defeat from the Badhra constituency in Charkhi Dadri district at the hands of JJP leader Naina Chautala.
PTI