New Delhi: One of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s most visible faces on social media and TV channels, Shehzad Poonawalla on Friday removed all reference to the BJP from his X bio, triggering speculation about his resignation from the party.
However, there has been no official confirmation of the BJP spokesperson quitting the party. Poonawalla didn’t respond to calls and messages from ThePrint.
His updated bio now reads, “Religion, Islam, Culture, Hindu, ideology-Bhartiya, Author: GST ki Yatra; Lifelong follower of PM Narendra Modi.”
Poonawalla also shared a screenshot of the revised bio on X. In his updated bio, Poonawalla describes himself as a “lifelong follower” of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
However, his current bio on Instagram still mentions “BJP Spokesperson”.
Poonawalla had joined the BJP after he quit the Congress in December 2017.
The change in his bio has raised eyebrows as he had hinted a few days back that the time had come to move on from active politics.
On Friday, he reposted videos of interviews in which he had made those remarks.
— Shehzad Jai Hind (@Shehzad_Ind) July 30, 2026
— Shehzad Jai Hind (@Shehzad_Ind) July 30, 2026
A lawyer by training, Poonawalla grabbed headlines in 2017 when he termed the Congress presidential election process as rigged and claimed it was rigged in favour of Rahul Gandhi to elevate him to the post of party president. He had quit the party following this controversy.
ThePrint had reported that at the time of his quitting, he alleged that Congress leaders treated him very shabbily despite his repeated attempts to get in touch with Rahul’s office before his public outburst.
PM Modi used his claims to hit out at the Congress and the rival party’s presidential elections.
Shehzad is the brother of political analyst Tehseen Poonawalla, and they had a very public split, when Shehzad openly criticized the Congress leadership’s internal elections, which led to Tehseen distancing himself from him.
The BJP spokesperson is from Pune and comes from a well-off Aga Khan Muslim family. He started working for the Congress in 2008. Poonawalla studied law and interned with Congress leader Suresh Kalmadi before joining the All India Congress Committee (AICC) as a volunteer. After completing his course in 2008, he interned with the Congress’ media research team in Delhi.
He had been the vice-president of the Pune wing of the National Students Union of India and also worked in the AICC’s media cell. After quitting the Congress, he joined the BJP wherein he was first given responsibility at the state level and was later elevated to the position of the national spokesperson.
(Edited by Tony Rai)