'Tareeka badla hai, maqsad nahi': Shehzad Poonawalla predicts Rahul Gandhi's future

Shehzad Poonawalla began his political journey as a Congress volunteer around 2008 while he was still a student.

Updated on: Aug 20, 2026, 10:26:24 IST

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Congress leader Rahul Gandhi would never become the Prime Minister of India, former BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla said on Wednesday, days after resigning from the party.

“Rahul Gandhi will never be PM of India till I am alive,” Poonawalla wrote on X. “Tareeka badla hai, maqsad nahi” (The method has changed, not the objective). He was responding to a post that read, “Shehzad Poonawala is still destroying Congress left right & centre.”

Poonawalla began his political journey as a Congress volunteer around 2008 while he was still a student. He later served as vice-president of the Pune unit of the party’s student wing, the National Students’ Union of India (NSUI), and as secretary of the Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee.

He broke ties with the Congress in 2017 after criticising the party’s internal presidential election process, alleging that it was “rigged” in favour of Rahul Gandhi. He joined the BJP the same year.

Shehzad Poonawalla's ‘Rajiv Gandhi’ remark

Poonawalla also took a dig at Rahul Gandhi while referring to his father, former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi.

On X, he said, “Forever indebted to Shri Rajiv Gandhi ji He gave us @RahulGandhi who ensured PM [Narendra Modi] became PM in 2014,19,24 and will become PM again in 2029 Inshallah Rajiv Gandhi, is therefore the biggest Modi ji supporter like me.”

In another post, Poonawalla warned Rahul Gandhi, writing, “No filter now – [Rahul Gandhi] be ready”, while responding to a post by Jaipur Dialogues featuring an interview with him.

Why Poonawalla resigned from BJP

Poonawalla submitted his resignation to BJP national president Nitin Nabin for a second time on Monday and asked him to accept it. He also shared his resignation letter on X. He cited “pressing financial and personal circumstances” for his decision.

He said he needed to explore new avenues because his current role did not provide him with an income.

“I need to pay my rent. My landlord is not going to give me free rent because I'm from the BJP. He's asking me for rent on the 1st. Political parties don't pay karyakartas (workers),” he told .

He said political parties did not pay their spokespersons and that he had discussed resigning or moving to the private sector since 2024.

“Me wanting to resign or moving to a private space has been a conversation since 2024,” he said. The “24X7, 365 days a year” role was no longer sustainable to him, he said.

Poonawalla on return to Congress

Poonawalla also revisited his earlier remarks about the Congress and his return to the party. He had said he would consider rejoining the Congress only if Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra were removed from the party leadership.

“Some people in Congress started believing that I’m setting terms to come back and started blabbering here,” he had said while responding to a report on his remarks.

Poonawalla said earlier, “I will join the Congress on one condition: Remove Rahul Gandhi, remove Sonia Gandhi, remove Priyanka Vadra, apologise for Nehru's actions.”

He also ruled out joining another political party. “Having served as the national spokesperson of the world's largest democratic party, do you think I'm going to settle for some other party? The BJP is the best party that India has at this moment," he told .

‘Rahul Gandhi was a Pappu, is a Pappu’

In his latest attack, Poonawalla said, “Rahul Gandhi Was a Pappu, Rahul Gandhi is a Pappu. Rahul Gandhi will forever remain a Pappu."

He also shared a clip of a television interview with former Congress spokesperson Sanjay Jha and attacked the Congress over Prime Minister Narendra Modi's “dimagi Naxal” remark in his Independence Day speech.

“Modi is absolutely wrong to categorise folks as DIMAGI NAXAL. They should have been called बददिमगी [brainless] Naxal,” he said.

Poonawalla's resignation came after he changed his X bio on July 31 and removed references to the BJP. He still kept “Lifelong follower of PM Narendra Modi” as a descriptor.

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