Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and actress Sonali Phogat died after suffering a heart attack on Monday night in Goa, as per reports. The 41-year-old had gone to Goa with a few of her staff members for a shoot. Hours before her death, Sonali posted a video from her official Instagram account wearing a pink dupatta as a head wrap with Mohammad Rafi’s song ‘Rukh se jara naqab toh hata do mere hazoor...’ playing in the background. She also changed her Twitter profile picture in the same attire.

As we try to process the news of Sonali Phogat’s demise, here are some lesser-known facts about the former ‘Bigg Boss’ contestant:

Sonali Phogat was born on 21 September 1979, in Bhuthan Kalan Village, Fatehabad and grew up in Hisar, Haryana. Her father was a farmer and had one brother and three sisters.

Sonali Phogat was married to Sanjay Phogat, but as per reports online, her husband was found dead under mysterious circumstances in Hisar in 2016. She is the mother of a girl named Yashodhara Phogat.

The former Bigg Boss 14 contestant made her television debut in 2006, as an anchor in a Haryanvi show on Doordarshan. In 2019, she was featured in the web series 'The Story Of Badmashgarh.' Sonali Phogat has also appeared in the Haryanvi music video, 'Bandook Aali Jaatni' (2019).

In 2020, she became a part of the reality show ‘Bigg Boss 14’, hosted by Salman Khan, as a wild card contestant.

Sonali Phogat was a Tik Tok star and she was equally active on all her social media handles. The actress-turned-politician enjoyed a massive fan following on the internet.

She joined the political party BJP in 2008, and in 2019, she contested Harayana Assembly Elections from the Adampur Constituency. However, she lost the elections to Congress leader Kuldeep Bishnoi by a margin of 29,471 votes. Phogat also worked for the development of the tribal areas in Jharkhand and Madhya Pradesh. Later, she was made in charge of BJP's scheduled Tribe wing in Haryana, New Delhi, and Chandigarh.

Sonali Phogat was National Vice President of BJP Mahila Morcha.

[With Inputs From Pinkvilla]