Amid the worsening air quality in Delhi and adjoining areas, a video of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla wearing a gas mask is circulating on social media. In the clip, Poonawalla criticises the Delhi government’s handling of pollution, while users claim that he is now “exposing the BJP government of Delhi.”
Shehzad Poonawalla in Hindi said: “देखिए आज तो एक्यूआई सारी हदें पार कर रहा है कहीं साढ़े पांच सौ छह सौ सात सौ पार है आपको पार्लियामेंट की बिल्डिंग नहीं दिख रही नॉर्थ ब्लॉक साउथ ब्लॉक नहीं दिख रहा यहाँ पर इतनी धुंध है और हम लोग नौ बजे के बाद यहाँ पर पहुंचे हैं ये इसलिए क्योंकि आज दिल्ली गैस चैंबर बन चुकी है पंजाब की पराली को आम आदमी पार्टी रोज दोष देती थी आज छह हजार से ज्यादा पंजाब की पराली की जलने की हुई है उस पर एक शब्द नहीं पर दिवाली पर निशाना साधेंगे कभी दिवाली को कभी यूपी को कभी हरियाणा को दोष देंगे दिल्ली के जो अंदरूनी कारण है प्रदूषण के उसके ऊपर कुछ नहीं बोलेंगे और जो स्मोक टावर तेईस चौबीस करोड़ का खर्च करके बनाया है वो स्मोक टावर भी मैं चेक करके आया वो चल नहीं रहे हैं इसका मतलब कि ये जो प्रदूष”
(English translation: “Look, today the AQI is crossing all limits, somewhere it is beyond five hundred and fifty, six hundred and seven hundred, you cannot see the Parliament building, North Block, South Block is not visible, there is so much fog here and we have reached here after nine o’clock, this is because today Delhi has become a gas chamber, Aam Aadmi Party used to blame Punjab’s stubble every day, today more than six thousand stubble of Punjab has been burnt, not a single word on that, but they will target Diwali, sometimes they will blame Diwali, sometimes UP, sometimes Haryana, they will not say anything on the internal reasons of pollution in Delhi and the smoke towers which have been built by spending twenty-three-twenty-four crores, I have checked those smoke towers too, they are not working, this means that this pollution”)
The above post can be seen here (archive)
FACT CHECK
NewsMobile fact-checked the viral video and found the claim to be misleading.
A keyword search led us to multiple media reports about Shehzad Poonawalla wearing a gas mask during a press interaction in Delhi in November 2024, when AAP was still in power. (These reports can be seen here, here and here)
The same clip was also shared by The Times of India on its official X (formerly Twitter) handle on November 13, 2024.
#WATCH | BJP leader #ShehzadPoonawalla wears a gas mask as the pollution level increases in #DelhiNCR pic.twitter.com/LGvhTWH90D
— The Times Of India (@timesofindia) November 13, 2024
At that time, Atishi Marlena served as the Chief Minister of Delhi, leading the Aam Aadmi Party government.
It was only in February 2025 that the BJP came to power in Delhi, with Rekha Gupta assuming office as Chief Minister on February 20, 2025.
In conclusion, the viral video of BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla wearing a gas mask is not recent. It dates back to November 2024, when AAP governed Delhi. The claim that Poonawalla was criticising the current BJP government is, therefore, misleading.
