Former BJP Spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla Slams Rahul Gandhi; Takes Dig At Cockroach Janta Party Over Selective Politics | FPJ Exclusive

Former BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla has launched a sharp attack on Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over his recurring ‘vote chori’ allegations against the BJP, while also taking a dig at the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) over what he described as selective activism and disproportionate media attention. In an exclusive interview with The Free Press Journal, Poonawalla spoke about electoral allegations, political privilege, the NEET paper leak controversy and the protests organised by the youth-led CJP movement at Jantar Mantar. He also addressed Janshakti Janata Dal chief Tej Pratap Yadav’s recent allegation that he had won reality show Rise and Fall Season 2 through ‘vote chori’, using the controversy to question the tendency of political leaders to challenge outcomes when things do not go their way.

Taking a dig at Rahul Gandhi and Tej Pratap Yadav, Poonawalla questioned their privilege and understanding of electoral politics. He said, “Whether it is Rahul Gandhi or Tej Pratap, both were born with silver and golden spoons in their mouths. What do they think? That everything was fine as long as their fathers were in power? Was booth capturing not carried out during their fathers’ time, during Laluji’s (Lalu Prasad Yadav) tenure? And now they are talking about vote chori, calling others hereditary thieves, when their own father is a convicted thief. Rahul Gandhi’s family has also not been any less when it comes to theft."

Questioning Rahul Gandhi’s vote chori allegations and referring to the 2014 and 2024 election results, Poonawalla said, “Now, when Rahul Gandhi talks about EVMs, he sounds like a fool, sorry to use this word. In 2014, the UPA government was in power, wasn’t it, when Modi was elected for the first time? So, brother, how did Modi commit vote chori? In 2014, your government was in power, and you had appointed the Election Commission. So, how did he manage to do it? And in 2024, when the BJP’s seats came down to 240 and yours were at 99, suddenly it became vote chori. But when the BJP got 282 seats, that wasn’t vote chori?”

Apart from his remarks on Rahul Gandhi, Poonawalla also spoke about the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), a youth-led satirical movement that emerged in May 2026 and gained considerable attention following the NEET paper leak controversy. Poonawalla questioned the disproportionate attention given to the movement and accused it of selectively highlighting certain issues while overlooking similar protests in other states. Poonawalla said, “What happens is that one section is over-amplified. For instance, the CJP is given more space in the media than it deserves. And there are some people who genuinely work, but they do not get as much space. I’ll give you an example: the protest against the paper leak at Jantar Mantar. I do not believe that every person who was part of that protest was politically motivated. I think many of them had genuine intentions that there should not be paper leaks, which I agree with. This should happen in all states. There, the Congress party jumped in, manipulated the issue and kept dancing around it, again and again"

Poonawalla further said, "At the same time, a major protest was taking place in Jharkhand over the paper leak issue. But how much difference was there between the coverage of the Jharkhand protest and the coverage of the protest at Jantar Mantar? And the CJP never went to Jharkhand, so they were exposed. They did not go to Karnataka over the paper leak issue, nor did they go to Punjab over the paper leak issue. Here, Modi ji took steps, interacted with the students, and Dharmendra Pradhan resigned. The government was sensitive; everything happened. So, sometimes, this shows that even a government against which allegations are made is the one from which people have expectations. And it also works sensitively, like the Modi government. The other governments, including those of opposition leaders who claim that they are doing a lot, are actually exposed for how ineffective they are. So, I applaud the Gen Z generation for exposing them.”