On Tuesday (14th January), Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla announced a fast unto death after Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) accused him of abusing its MLA Rituraj Jha and claimed that Poonawalla insulted the entire Maithil Brahmin community during a heated debate on Republic Bharat.
The BJP spokesperson, however, denied the allegations and accused AAP of spreading lies and doing his character assassination. Shehzad Poonawalla said that he would continue his fast unto death until the Aam Aadmi Party proved him guilty of abusing Rituraj Jha and the Maithil Brahmin community.
Poonawalla also accused the Aam Aadmi Party of circulating a cropped clip of the said debate on Republic Bharat news channel to target him, a Pasmanda Muslim. The BJP spokesperson also said that he would go to the Aam Aadmi Party’s office and stay there until AAP proved that he initiated the exchange of allegedly insulting remarks between him and the AAP MLA Rituraj Jha.
Taking to X, Poonawalla wrote, “Dear friends, If I die – @AamAadmiParty is solely responsible for it.. I am starting a fast unto death because of the lies spread against me by AAP and for my character assassination until AAP proves i abused anybody. Shri @MediaHarshVT, Aishwarya Kapoor of Republic know the truth i am disclosing below. #ShehzadAbusedByAAP.”
Dear friends,
— Shehzad Jai Hind (Modi Ka Parivar) (@Shehzad_Ind) January 14, 2025
If i die – @AamAadmiParty is solely responsible for it..
I am starting a fast unto death because of the lies spread against me by AAP and for my character assassination until AAP proves i abused anybody.
Shri @MediaHarshVT , Aishwarya Kapoor of Republic know the… pic.twitter.com/cFQYAcnSep
This came after AAP shared a cropped 6-second clip of Shehzad Poonawalla’s response to AAP MLA Rituraj Jha’s repeated mockery of the BJP spokesperson’s surname and claimed that Shehzad Poonawalla called Rituraj Jha as “Jhatu” and thus insulted him and the Poorvanchali Maithil Brahmins.
“BJP abused Purvanchalis on live TV ‼️ BJP spokesperson abused Purvanchal MLA @MLARituraj Jha on national channel. This is an insult to Maithili Brahmin community, this is an insult to Purvanchalis,” AAP said.
Live TV पर BJP ने पूर्वांचलियों को दी गंदी गाली‼️
— AAP (@AamAadmiParty) January 14, 2025
BJP के प्रवक्ता ने पूर्वांचल के विधायक @MLARituraj झा को राष्ट्रीय चैनल पर दी गंदी गाली। ये मैथिली ब्राह्मण समाज का अपमान है, ये पूर्वांचलियों का अपमान है। pic.twitter.com/K8m5mipQ2Z
In the video, Poonawalla is heard saying, “Main bhi keh sakta hoon ki Sanjay Jha, Jha 1 aur Rituraj Jha, Jha 2…”Main bhi bol sakta hoon Jha 2 ho aap” (I can identify Sanjay Jha as Jha 1 and Rituraj Jha as Jha 2). I can also say you are Jha 2).
#ShehzadAbusedByAAP – the Truth
— Shehzad Jai Hind (Modi Ka Parivar) (@Shehzad_Ind) January 14, 2025
AAP is a liar party
Rituraj Jha abused Shehzad Poonawalla and called him “Chunavala” at 7.22pm
Then repeated it at 7.34pm
When Shehzad raised the issue with anchor – even journalist on debate said AAP abused Shehzad first and always abuse his… pic.twitter.com/6FBSLqQwfY
The incident transpired during a heated debate in which the AAP MLA Rituraj Jha called Poonawalla as ‘Choonawalla’, triggering objections from the BJP spokesperson and condemnation from co-panelist and senior journalist Harshvardhan Tripathi who said that the insulting remarks were first made by the AAP MLA.