Sam Pitroda quits Congress post after row over his racial remarks

NEW DELHI: Sam Pitroda on Wednesday quit as the chairman of the Indian Overseas Congress after a massive row over his racist remarks. Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge has accepted his resignation.


"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," Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said on X.

Earlier in the day, Pitroda landed in controversy as he compared Indians from different parts of the nation to Chinese, Arabs, Whites and Africans while talking about diversity and democracy in India during an interview. "We are a shining example of democracy in the world...we could hold country together as diverse as India where people in East look like Chinese, people in West look like Arab, people in North look like maybe white and people in South look like Africa. Doesn't matter, we are all brothers and sisters," said the chairman of the Indian Overseas Congress.

Soon after the clip of the remark went viral on social media, Prime Minister Narendra Modi lashed out at Sam Pitroda during his Telangana rally. "I am very angry today... I am very angry with the remark made by Sam Pitroda". The PM added, "We will not accept this racist mentality". PM also linked Pitroda's statement to Congress's decision of fielding a candidate against Droupadi Murmu for the presidential election in 2022.



Pitroda has made controversial remarks in the past as well garnering the anger of opposition and the public.

In the midst of awaiting the inauguration of the Ram Mandir in June 2023, Sam Pitroda claimed that the construction of temples would not provide solutions to the critical challenges faced by India, specifically highlighting the urgent matters of joblessness, rising prices, educational concerns, and healthcare issues.

Sam Pitroda sparked another debate when he discussed the concept of inheritance tax in the United States. He explained, "In America, there is an inheritance tax. If one has 100 million USD worth of wealth and when he dies he can only transfer 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, half of it, which to me sounds fair." His comments stirred up controversy as he only gave the example of the United States. Pitroda's remark led to the BJP and PM Modi attacking Congress on the issue of "wealth redistribution".

Another incident involving Pitroda was in wake of the Pulwama attack in February 2019, as he said, “I don’t know much about attacks. It happens all the time. Attack happened in Mumbai, also. We could have then reacted and just sent our planes, but that is not the right approach. According to me, that’s not how you deal with the world," Pitroda had said.

In response to a question about former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi's alleged role in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, Pitroda sparked yet another controversy in May 2019 with his dismissive remark, "so what." His statement quickly ignited a firestorm of outrage. Pitroda said: "Ab kya hai '84 ka? Aapne kya kiya 5 saal mein, uski baat kariye."

Sam Pitroda had also faced backlash from the BJP in early 2024 after he shared an article authored by Sudheendra Kulkarni, a former close aide to prominent BJP leader LK Advani. The article in question argued that India's first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, played a more significant role in the creation of the Indian Constitution than BR Ambedkar. Pitroda's support prompted the BJP to criticise Congress, accusing it of being 'anti-Dalit'.
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