Rhiya Ahir, Mumbai-based model, who gained attention after a video of her stopping a police van during the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) protests went viral, has engaged in a public spat with former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla after he mocked her for not making it to Bigg Boss 20.
responded through two reels, using the first to take a sarcastic dig at Poonawalla before saying she had seen his video about her and was flattered by it. She then asked him to stay out of her personal life and accused him of having a history of “cornering young girls”.
She also urged to “leave women alone”.
The 28-year-old model also pointed out that Poonawalla, 38, was more than twice her age and urged him to focus on politics involving people from his own age group rather than “little girls”.
Ahir rejected any association with the political figures mentioned by Poonawalla and alleged that the accusations against her followed a script she claimed had been used by several other influencers. She also sarcastically suggested that the repeated allegations could be linked to payments being made.
Responding to allegation that she did not respect the Indian Army, Ahir challenged him to provide evidence. She questioned when she had ever shown disrespect towards the Army, any profession, institution, religion or individual.
Ahir also dismissed the suggestion that Bigg Boss could serve as a platform for political messaging.
“Namaste, respected Shehzaab, Shehbaz, Shehzaab, Poonawala Uncle. I just saw the reel you made about me. Well, I’m flattered. But at the same time, I just want to request you to keep your big nose out of my personal business and life,” she said.
She added, “If you are going to say someone doesn’t respect the Indian Army, show up with proof. Where have I ever disrespected the Indian Army or any professional or any institution or religion or anyone for that matter?”
“If you watched , you would know that you cannot promote the ecosystem, the political agendas and even religion, for that matter, on Bigg Boss, because it is solely for entertainment purposes. Politics, women, religion is not entertainment,” she said in her second reel.
“Leave women alone, leave temple alone, leave Instagram alone and leave girls half your age alone,” Ahir concluded.
In a post on X, Poonawalla mocked Ahir for not making it into the Bigg Boss house, saying, “I’m sorry you were kicked out even before you entered Bigg Boss house.”
He also dragged Leader of Opposition (LoP) in Lok Sabha and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi into the exchange, writing, “Perhaps you should have known better that Rahul Gandhi can’t win his own elections, aapko kya jitayega (how will he make you win).”
Poonawalla clarified that his earlier video was mainly about journalist Arfa Khanum Sherwani and that Ahir had only been mentioned incidentally. “Thirdly, the video was on Arfa, you were incidental,” he wrote, adding, “But you know I understand the attention-seeking behaviour.”
He also took a swipe at Ahir’s now-discontinued premium Instagram subscription, writing, “Next time try posing in front of a plane, maybe you get something more than a Rs140 subscription!”
Responding to Ahir’s comments about their age difference, Poonawalla said, “You are 28, you are not a ‘young girl’ and I’m 38, so technically I’m not twice your age.”
He followed it up with another jibe, saying, “Clearly maths was never your strong point at school,” and joked that Ahir appeared to have mistaken him for “another 56-year-old Rahul Gandhi.”
Poonawalla ended his response by saying Ahir’s remarks “deserve no attention” and suggested that “another podcast with Arfa might help”.
In August, Ahir appeared alongside Gandhi at a press conference in New Delhi, where she spoke about the online abuse she faced following her viral protest. Ahir said she had been subjected to severe trolling, harassment and targeted abuse after the video gained widespread attention.
She also alleged that local authorities had delayed registering a formal First Information Report (FIR) over the cyber abuse directed at her. Gandhi condemned the intimidation faced by young activists and expressed support for Ahir.
