Controversial Sam Pitroda who made racist remarks re-appointed chairman of Indian Overseas Congress

Sam Pitroda was re-appointed as the chairman of the Indian Overseas Congress, an AICC release said on June 26. The AICC release said that the Congress President has reappointed Sam Pitroda to the position with immediate effect.

Sam Pitroda had resigned from the position earlier in May this year amid controversies surrounding his remarks regarding the appearance of Indians. The Congress party then distanced itself from Sam Pitroda’s remarks.

Congress general secretary (communications) Jairam Ramesh informed about Sam Pitroda’s decision to step down through a post on X. “Sam Pitroda has decided to step down as Chairman of the Indian Overseas Congress of his own accord. The Congress President has accepted his decision,” the post mentioned.

Sam Pitroda, in an interview with ‘The Statesman’, while reflecting upon the democracy in India, said, “We have survived 75 years in a very happy environment where people could live together, leaving aside a few fights here and there. We could hold a country together as diverse as India, where people in the East look like Chinese, people in the West look like Arabs, people in the North look like whites, and maybe people in the South look like Africans.” He said the people of India respect different languages, religions, food and customs, which vary from region to region. “That’s the India that I believe in, where everybody has a place and everybody compromises a little bit,” he said.

As the remarks created an uproar amid the Lok Sabha elections, with the ruling BJP coming out all guns blazing against the Congress party, Jairam Ramesh said that the analogies drawn by Sam Pitroda are “most unfortunate and unacceptable.”

“The analogies drawn by Sam Pitroda in a podcast to illustrate India’s diversity are most unfortunate and unacceptable. The Indian National Congress completely dissociates itself from these analogies,” he said in a post on X.

On June 26, Jairam Ramesh, in a post on X, said, “During the recent election campaign, Sam Pitroda had made some statements and comments that were totally unacceptable to the Indian National Congress. By mutual consent, he stepped down as Chairman of the Overseas Indian Congress. Subsequently, he clarified the context in which statements were made and how they were later distorted by the Modi campaign. The Congress President has reappointed him on the assurance that he will not in future leave room for such controversies to arise”.

Meanwhile, BJP hit out at Congress saying that the removal of Pitroda was merely an election gimmick.

“The tormentor of the middle class is back… Congress hoodwinks India, brings back Sam Pitroda soon after elections. Hua toh hua,” said BJP IT cell Amit Malviya in a post on X.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the people of the country will not tolerate insults based on the colour of their skin and demanded an answer from Congress leader Rahul Gandhi.

“‘Shehzade aapko jawaab dena padega’. My country will not tolerate the disrespect of my countrymen based on their skin colour, and Modi will never tolerate this,” PM Modi said at his rally in Warangal.

“I was thinking a lot about President Droupadi Murmu, who has a very good reputation and is the daughter of an Vanvasi family, then why is Congress trying so hard to defeat her but today I got to know the reason. I got to know that there is an uncle in America who is the philosophical guide of ‘Shehzada’ and just like the third umpire in cricket this ‘Shehzada’ takes advice from the third umpire,” he said.

Sam Pitroda had earlier courted controversies with his remarks on sensitive issues, including the one when he advocated for an inheritance tax-like law in the country. Emphasising the need for policy towards wealth redistribution, Pitroda elaborated on the concept of inheritance tax prevailing in America.

“In America, there is an inheritance tax. If one has 100 million USD worth of wealth and, when he dies, can only transfer probably 45 per cent to his children, 55 per cent is grabbed by the government. That’s an interesting law. It says you, in your generation, made wealth and you are leaving now; you must leave your wealth for the public–not all of it, but half of it, which to me sounds fair,” Sam Pitroda said.

PM Modi also hit out at the remarks made by Sam Pitroda about an ‘inheritance tax’-like law, saying that the Congress does not want the countrymen to pass on their property to their children.