Sapna Choudhary, the folk singer and dancer from Haryana who hit the headlines on March 23 for supposedly joining the Congress in the presence of party general secretary Priyanka Gandhi, has denied claims of joining any political party.

Addressing a press conference, Choudhary said that her photo with Priyanka Gandhi, which was being circulated on social media, was an old one. “If old interviews can be dug up, old photographs can also resurface,” Choudhary said. The photo was tweeted by Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee President Raj Babbar.

However, UP Congress secretary Narendra Rathi has refuted Choudhary’s claims, releasing photos that he claims are those of her filling in the party membership form. He said that Choudhary’s sister, too, has joined the party ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

Choudhary, who shot to nationwide fame with her participation in the reality television show Bigg Boss in 2017, has become a well-recognised name since then. Her YouTube video titled Teri Aakhya Ka Yo Kajal, with nearly 400 million views, is extremely popular.

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Speaking to The Print, Choudhary outlined how her journey to fame, already jolted by the misogyny prevalent in Haryana, was amplified by her father’s death when she was eighteen years old. “I would have to dance for hours for as little as Rs 3,000,” she said, talking about her early struggles. In the wake of harassment on social media, Choudhary allegedly attempted suicide in September 2016 after she was accused of hurting the sentiments of the Dalit community during one of her performances in a Gurugram village.

According to rumours doing the rounds on Saturday, the Congress was planning to field Sapna Choudhary against actor-turned-politician Hema Malini in Uttar Pradesh’s Mathura in the 2019 elections.