Sam Pitroda has been re-appointed as the chairman of the Indian Overseas Congress, effective immediately, On Wednesday. This reappointment comes after Pitroda had submitted his resignation in May after a major controversy over his ‘racist’ remarks that had forced the Congress Party to distance itself from the political figure.
Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh defended Sam Pitroda’s re-appointment in a tweet that he made on the social media platform X, formerly Twitter. He stated that Pitroda’s comments were twisted and were largely taken out of context. Ramesh added that Pitroda has assured Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge that he will avoid making such controversial statements in the future.
“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 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,” Ramesh’s post on X read.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) criticized the re-appointment, suggesting that Pitroda’s removal 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,” tweeted Amit Malviya, head of BJP’s IT cell.
During the Lok Sabha election campaign, Pitroda’s remarks on the citizens of the different regions of India had sparked major controversy when he drew a comparison between Indians from different regions to Chinese, Arabs, Whites, and Africans while discussing diversity and democracy in India. This comparison provided fodder for the BJP to attack Congress. “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,” Pitroda had said.
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Before the controversy regarding his racist comment had sparked, Pitroda had added fuel to another controversy in April by endorsing the concept of inheritance tax, citing the example of the United States. This remark had resulted in BJP’s attacks on Congress over wealth redistribution issues. “”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,” Pitroda had said.
While, the COngress party had dissociated with Pitroda at the time of his controversial remarks, BJP leader and Prime Minister Narendra Modi had already termed his resignation from the Congress an election strategy. Pitroda’s reinstatement was foreshadowed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a May interview with NDTV. “I sometimes think the party (the Congress), in a well-planned way, does this. I don’t think they (the members) do this on their own. Then they are kept out of the party for a few days. Then they come back in the mainstream again,” Modi had said.
“This is what they did with their guru in America. He has resigned. Now he will be brought back again after a while… It is their well-considered strategy to create confusion in the country, change the atmosphere, create new issues, compel their opponents to react on these issues,” Modi had added.
Sam Pitroda had stepped down from the post of the chairman of the Indian Overseas Congress after his two consecutive statements sparked huge controversies and ingited allegations of racism and a colonial mindset.
