The Bharatiya Janata Party has picked TikTok starand TV actress Sonali Phogat for the Jat-dominated Adampur seat in Haryana. Ms Phogat, who has over 1 lakh followers on the video-sharing platform, will takeon Congress MLA Kuldeep Bishnoi, the son of three-time Chief Minister BhajanLal.

On TikTok, Ms Phogat regularly shares videos of herlip-syncing Bollywood songs. Her recent videos are viral on the internet.

While she has many followers online, fighting the election battle on Congress turf will be a new challenge for the greenhorn activist. Adampur constituency, located along the Haryana-Rajasthan border, is dominated by the Bishnoi family.

Bhajan Lal has won the Adampur seat eight times since 1969.His wife, Jasma Devi, and son Kuldeep Bishnoi won the seat once each in 1987and 1998. Mr Bishnoi's Gurgaon hotel worth Rs. 150 crore was attached by theIncome Tax department in August as a benami asset. His wife Renuka Bishnoirepresents the Hansi seat in the state Assembly, but has been denied theCongress ticket this year.

The couple had won the 2014 Assembly election as the HaryanaJanhit Congress (HJC) candidates. The party was later merged with the Congressin 2016.

Their son, Bhavya Bishnoi, had unsuccessfully contested theLok Sabha elections from the Hisar parliamentary seat as a Congress candidate.

Elections to the 90-member Haryana Assembly will take placeon October 21 and results will be declared on October 24.