'I need to pay my rent’: Shehzad Poonawalla explains why he quit BJP

NEW DELHI: Former BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla has explained that financial and personal reasons were behind his decision to resign from the party. In an interview, Poonawalla said political parties, including the BJP, do not pay salaries to spokespersons, making it difficult for him to sustain himself financially.

“I need to pay my rent. My landlord is not going to give me free rent because I’m from the BJP. He asks for rent on the first of every month. Political parties don’t pay karyakartas (workers),” he said. Poonawalla said he had been considering resigning since 2024 and that the party leadership had contacted him after he spoke about his plans to quit a few weeks ago.

He also said his decision to leave the BJP did not mean he had abandoned his commitment to the party or Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision. “The BJP is not my employment opportunity. The BJP is my ideological opportunity,” Poonawalla said. Poonawalla joined the BJP in 2021 after resigning from the Congress.