Congress leader Shehzad Poonawalla alleges Tarek Fatah assaulted him during a television debate

Secretary of Maharashtra Congress Shehzad Poonawalla has alleged that Pakistan-born writer Tarek Fatah assaulted him during a television debate on CNN-News18 hosted by Bhupendra Chaubey.

Poonawalla posted a video on Twitter which was recorded from a mobile phone. In the video, the mobile phone which Poonawalla was holding seems to fall down. Poonawalla alleged that Fatah slapped his hand and abused him.

@JaskiratSB My hand was slapped by Tarek Fatah & called bastard fucker etc in front of cameras & @bhupendrachaube full video with @CNNnews18 pic.twitter.com/LYnWIpaRur

— Shehzad Poonawalla (@Shehzad_Ind) February 21, 2017

However, when an angry Poonawalla expressed his shock over Fatah allegedly assaulting him, Fatah said, “I didn’t even touch you.”

Poonawalla and Fatah were discussing the latter’s involvement in an altercation at an Urdu festival in New Delhi. Eventually, the debate between the two got so heated up that Chaubey had to intervene.

It was apparently after the cameras were turned off that Fatah allegedly assaulted Poonawalla.