BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla, one of the Bharatiya Janata Party's most recognisable faces on prime-time TV debates, has reportedly quit the party. Poonawalla changed the bio on his X (formerly Twitter) account, removing "BJP National Spokesperson" while keeping "Lifelong follower of Prime Minister Narendra Modi".
His updated bio now reads: "Religion: Islam, Culture: Hindu, Ideology: Bharatiya, Author: GST ki Yatra; Lifelong follower of PM Narendra Modi."
According to an NDTV report, Poonawalla has resigned from the BJP, citing "personal reasons".
The reported resignation comes days after Poonawalla shared a clip from an earlier television interview in which he said it was time for him to move on from active politics.
Who is Shehzad Poonawalla?
A lawyer by profession, Shehzad Poonawalla began his political career with the Congress. He gained prominence in 2017 by publicly challenging the internal election process of the party, claiming it was manipulated to facilitate Rahul Gandhi's rise to the position of Congress president.
After leaving Congress, he joined the BJP and was appointed the party's national spokesperson.
Shehzad is the younger brother of political commentator Tehseen Poonawalla. The siblings had a high-profile fallout after Shehzad quit the Congress and began targeting the party and its leadership in television debates.
Tehseen Poonawalla is a regular panellist on TV news debates, where he often defends the Congress and criticises the BJP government.
So far, neither the BJP nor Shehzad Poonawalla has officially confirmed the reported resignation or elaborated on the reasons behind it, apart from the reported reference to "personal reasons".