New Delhi: Financial stress was the main reason behind his quitting the BJP, Shehzad Poonawalla has said.
Reflecting on his journey from once being a TV anchor to later switching to politics in 2021, Poonawalla said he was looking for new avenues as the current role didn’t pay much.
“I need to pay my rent. My landlord is not going to give me free accomodation because I’m from the BJP,” Poonawalla told NDTV.
The BJP or any other political party doesn’t pay its spokespersons, he noted.
“My wanting to resign or moving to a private space has been conversation since 2024,” Poonawalla said, adding that his “24X7, 365 days a year” job was no longer sustaining him.
When asked if financial circumstances prompted the move, the former BJP spokesperson replied: “Absolutely!”.
Explaining reasons for his resignation, Poonawalla used the phrase “neither leta nor beta”, emphasising that he neither got paid much nor was he related to any politician. “I don’t come from legacy,” he said.
“I neither take anything, nor am I some big politician’s beta (son),” he added, as reported by Hindustan Times.
When asked if he was “disgruntled” over not being included in the BJP’s new organisational team, Poonawalla laughed it off and said that as spokesperson, he doesn’t have say in such important decisions. He also said that he was not hoping to be on the team.
The party recently announced 13 vice-presidents, with some popular leaders like Smriti Irani and Ram Madhav making a comeback.
Poonawalla, who was one of the most prominent and popular spokespersons of the BJP, submitted his resignation from all party posts and primary membership to party president Nitin Nabin on Monday. He first offered to resign on July 30, but the party asked him to reconsider. He said he decided to stick to his decision after “long and hard contemplation”.
“Due to pressing emergency financial and personal circumstances, I will move into the private sector, but wherever possible and in whatever format possible, I will continue to support the vision and work of Prime Minister Modi and the BJP,” he said.
“I am only leaving the Vyavastha (organisation) not the Vyakti (people) or Vichar (ideology),” Poonawalla said.