'Lower Taxes, Better Roads': Shehzad Poonawalla Asks Why India's Middle Class Can't Get Singapore-Like Facilities

Former BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla on Monday questioned what India's middle class receives in return for the taxes it pays.

He called on state and central governments to explain whether public schools, roads, air quality and drinking water match the standards expected of "global standard taxes."

Middle Class is asking all governments..

If we pay Global Standard Taxes
Do we have Global Standard facilities ?
Overall our Public Schools, roads, breathing air and drinking water ? States need to answer this.

Personal Income Tax, GST, Tolls, Cess, Fuel Taxes, Local… https://t.co/2vdw5Kfp6E pic.twitter.com/6zNYpN1Tiq

— Shehzad Jai Hind (@Shehzad_Ind) August 18, 2026

"Middle Class is asking all governments…If we pay Global Standard Taxes, Do we have Global Standard facilities?...States need to answer this," Poonawalla wrote on X, listing personal income tax, GST, tolls, cess, fuel taxes and local taxes as levies the middle class bears.

"I don't object to contributing. But after everything I contribute, what am I getting back?" he asked, arguing India's middle class deserved "the Singapore deal as a starter—lower taxes, better roads, better transport, better civic infrastructure and greater accountability for every rupee it pays."

ALSO READ: Shehzad Poonawalla Officially Resigns From BJP. Here's What He Said In Letter To Party Chief Nitin Nabin

The post built on an earlier video from Poonawalla's social media initiative, "The Manifesto," in which he described the middle class as an "ATM" for the government, saying it paid income tax, indirect taxes and tolls without adequate public services in return, and called for personal income tax on salaried Indians to be scrapped.

Poonawalla's remarks come a day after he resigned as BJP national spokesperson and from the party's primary membership.

He had first offered to resign on July 30, citing financial and personal circumstances, before reinforcing the decision on August 17 in a letter to BJP national president Nitin Nabin, in which he said "certain individuals" had forced the decision.

He has said he was leaving the organisational structure of the party, not his ideological support for Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

ALSO READ: Who Is Shehzad Poonawalla? BJP's Firebrand Spokesperson Resigns From Party, Changes Bio On X

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