Shehzad Poonawalla has resigned as a national spokesperson of India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and relinquished his primary membership of the party. He submitted his resignation letter to BJP president Nitin Nabin on Monday, according to the report published on August 19, 2026. Poonawalla said he was leaving politics because of urgent financial and personal circumstances and planned to return to private-sector employment.

He said he had been considering a return to professional life since 2024. The BJP spokesperson role was unpaid and voluntary, he said, making it necessary for him to resume work to meet financial needs. Poonawalla added that he had devoted nearly every day of the year to politics for a long period, but ultimately had to choose between a job and political activity.

Poonawalla had previously expressed an intention to resign on July 30, but the party asked him to reconsider. His departure has drawn discussion amid a major reshuffle among BJP national office-bearers, although he did not cite any political disagreement. He began politics through Congress’s student wing NSUI, left Congress in 2017 alleging irregularities and nepotism, and later joined the BJP.