Shehzad Poonawala is an Indian lawyer, columnist and internet personality. He is the spokesperson of Bharatiya Janata Party. He is the younger brother of renowned political and social analyst Tehseen Poonawala.
Contents
Wiki/Biography
Shehzad Poonawala was born on Saturday, 17 October 1987 (age 35 years; as in 2023) in Pune, Maharashtra. His zodiac sign is Libra. He did his schooling from St. Vincent’s High School, Pune and later went to MIT School of Government, Pune. He was a topper in his school time. He graduated from college in Pune and earned a law degree from Pune University. In 2008, he moved to Delhi to start his political career.
Physical Appearance
Height (Approx): 5′ 8″
Weight (Approx): 65 kg
Hair Color: Black
Eye colour: brown
Body Measurements (Approximate): Chest: 36, Waist: 30, Biceps: 12
Family
Shahzad was born into the Aga Khani subgroup of Shia Muslim family.
parents and siblings
Shehzad’s father Sarfaraz Poonawala was a businessman and his mother Yasmin Poonawala is a housewife. Shahzad’s father died when he was 5 years old. Shahzad has an elder brother, Tehseen Poonawala. Tehseen Poonawala is an Indian journalist, political analyst and supporter of the Indian National Congress.
Shahzad’s childhood picture with his parents
Shehzad Poonawala (left) with his brother Tehseen
wife and children
Shehzad Poonawala is unmarried.
religion/religious views
Shahzad follows Islam but by culture he describes himself as Hindu and Indian. He believes that a person’s religion is a personal matter and should not be determined by it. For them, a person’s religion is a way of communicating with his Creator and should not be dictated by a third person.
Address
A46, South Extension Part 2 2nd Floor, Behind Mehrasons Jewellers, Delhi,
livelihood
Politics
Congress
Shahzad started his political career in 2008 when he joined the Indian National Congress. Since childhood, he considered Mahatma Gandhi as his idol and wanted to bring a change in the social and political dynamics of the country, so he decided to join Congress. In his early days in Congress, he worked closely with senior party leaders including Digvijay Singh, Rajiv Shukla and Manish Tewari. He has served as a member of the research team of the media cell of the All India Congress Committee (AICC) and was appointed vice president of the National Students Union of India (NSUI) wing in Pune. In 2014, he was appointed as Maharashtra Congress Assistant and officially trained by the Congress as a national spokesperson. In 2017, Shahzad left the Indian National Congress amid controversies between himself and the party. According to him, the party no longer follows any of its historical ideologies and is only focused on the upliftment of the Gandhi family.
When he was asked in an interview why he left the Congress Party, he said,
I left the Congress party because for 70 years they only exploited Muslims in the name of vote bank, they did nothing about it. Most of the anti-Muslim riots happened during the tenure of Congress and they did nothing about it, so it is a challenge for Muslims and “betrayal” for Hindus.
BJP
After leaving Congress in 2017, Shahzad was influenced by Narendra Modi’s principles and Hindutva and joined the Bharatiya Janata Party. He became the national spokesperson of BJP and participated in many debates on news channels. On 23 December 2021, he was appointed in-charge of the social media and IT cell of the party’s Delhi unit.
Other work
Shahzad is a professional lawyer and has fought many cases in favor of civil rights and has worked in the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs. He was a columnist for the Indian Express. In 2015, he fought the famous Misbah Qadri case and also took up the mob lynching case of Junaid in Haryana, India.
controversies
Publicly challenged Rahul Gandhi
In December 2017, Shehzad Poonawala publicly challenged Rahul Gandhi. On his social media he said that Rahul Gandhi is not capable of running the Indian National Congress and Narendra Modi is a better candidate than him. He publicly criticized the party, saying that “dynasty politics” was going on inside the party and would resign from his current post if Rahul Gandhi agreed to elect the delegates and participate as an ordinary member. If given, he will also contest elections for the post of party president. Of the party. Shahzad said,
The organizational elections of Congress were a sham as Rahul Gandhi got unfair advantage. “Will you allow yourself to be judged on your merits rather than your surname?”
He also asked whether Rahul Gandhi would be willing to be part of a televised debate that would outline his vision for the party and the country. Poonawalla said that Manish Tiwari opposed him and another senior leader Sandeep Dixit has accepted that such things keep happening.
Manish Tiwari said, ‘See what you are talking about is reforms, if you want a political career then keep it aside’… I kept the recording of Manish Tiwari’s phone call – all this because Congress insulted me,”
After his statement, Narendra Modi praised him and said,
Congress has tried to suppress his voice and wants to remove him from its social media groups. Those who do not have internal democracy cannot work for the people… I want to say to this young prince – you have done a brave thing, but sadly this is what has always happened in the Congress.
Amidst this situation, Shehzad’s brother Tehseen Poonawala, who is a supporter of the Indian National Congress and has family ties with Rahul Gandhi because of his wife, publicly disowned Shehzad Poonawala on Twitter.
“I have raised Shehzad Poonawala as my own child. It pains me to see him doing this. This is completely unacceptable. We need to strengthen the Congress and allies to win. Any complaints will be justified. Could have been put on stage. My wife and I break up with him.”
– Tehseen Poonawala Official 🇮🇳 (@tehseenp) 30 November 2017
Favorite
Facts/General Knowledge
- He gave a TEDX talk at CISFG, Jalandhar.
- His hobbies include traveling and reading.
- His family surname was Jamadar which means toilet cleaner, so his father changed it to Poonawala as it did not suit the name of a businessman.
- In 2015, he sued director and producer Ram Gopal Varma for insulting Lord Ganesha.
Categories: Biography
Source: vcmp.edu.vn