Shahzad Poonawalla, a longtime spokesperson for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), has resigned from the party, citing personal reasons. Though he is yet to give an official confirmation on the same, he has updated his bio on X, which he shared on his handle.
His X bio now reads: “Religion: Islam, Culture: Hindu, Ideology: Bhartiya. Author: GST Ki Yatra; Lifelong follower of PM Narendra Modi."
According to reports, Poonawalla submitted his resignation to senior BJP leaders and cited personal reasons for his decision.
He retweeted two of his old videos, one dated July 9 and another June 28, where he is seen explaining his political journey.
Poonawalla had earlier too stated how he was considering retiring from politics after the 2024 elections. "I've been in active politics for about 18-19 years. I started at a very young age, so now I've completed 18-19 years in active politics. Based on my abilities, I feel I've reached where I wanted to be. Even in 2024, I thought I'd step away from active politics after Prime Minister Narendra Modi took office for his third term," he added.
He went on to add that he stumbled upon a video of PM Modi looking very emotional after returning to power for the third time. Poonawala added that the fact that a few important elections were coming up stopped him from quitting. “I decided to stick around. I decided to work hard to win these elections to send a message (of their political strength in the country) and then step away from active politics," he said in the video.
Shahzad left the Congress party and joined the Bharatiya Janata Party in 2017 following controversy surrounding the party's presidential election process. After joining the BJP, Shahzad was appointed its national spokesperson.
