Are you Pakistanis?: BJP's Sonali Phogat to those not chanting 'Bharat Mata ki Jai' at rally
Chandigarh, Oct 8: 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.
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."
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'.
Haryana goes to polls on October 21.
"Those who can't say Bharat Mata Ki Jai their votes are of no value.I am ashamed of Indians like you"
— Sukirti Dwivedi (@SukirtiDwivedi) October 8, 2019
Words from BJP's TikTok star candidate Sonali Phogat frm Haryana's Adampur.
Phogat has lakhs of TikTok followers & is challenging former CM Bhajanlal's son in his bastion@ndtv pic.twitter.com/omIXhRVr4u
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Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Minister Priyank Kharge met a high-level delegation from Chile, led by Chilean Foreign Minister Francisco Pérez Mackenna, at Vidhana Soudha on Thursday to discuss collaboration in emerging technologies, clean energy, and startup ecosystems, officials said.
The delegation’s visit to Bengaluru, as part of its India engagements, underscores Karnataka’s growing prominence as a preferred partner for global collaborations in technology, innovation, and startup ecosystems, officials added.
The discussions reflected strong alignment between Chile’s evolving technology-focused growth strategy and Karnataka’s established leadership in innovation and deep-tech ecosystems, according to a statement.
Both sides explored opportunities to build partnerships that move beyond traditional sectors and focus on innovation-led growth, talent exchange, and market access.
The meeting focused on opportunities in renewable energy, including green hydrogen and sustainable industrial innovation.
Other potential areas of collaboration included marine biotechnology, aquaculture technologies, and AI applications across traditional industries.
According to the state IT minister, Karnataka is now a global hub for deep-tech, AI, biotech, aerospace, and advanced research, backed by one of the world’s strongest talent pipelines.
“As partners under the global innovation alliance, we must move beyond agreements on paper to actionable collaboration,” Kharge said.
“We are keen to work with Chile on startup exchanges, market access programmes, and building joint innovation corridors, including R&D centres, incubators, and accelerators. Chile’s position as a gateway to Latin America presents a significant opportunity for our startups to scale globally,” he added.
Officials said the engagement builds on the Letter of Intent signed between the Government of Karnataka and the Government of Chile during the Bengaluru Tech Summit, which established a framework for collaboration in startups, emerging technologies, research, and skill development under the Global Innovation Alliance.
Mackenna, Chile’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, said the country is actively advancing its transition toward a knowledge- and technology-driven economy.
“Our engagement with Karnataka reflects our interest in building strong innovation partnerships that enable technology exchange, talent collaboration, and access to dynamic startup ecosystems,” he added.
“We see significant potential to work together in sectors such as clean energy, digital technologies, and emerging industries, while also strengthening Chile’s role as a bridge between India and Latin America,” he said.
