Sam Pitroda Resigns As Chairman Of Indian Overseas Congress Amid Row Over His 'Racist' Remark

The resignation comes hours after Pitroda triggered another controversy on Wednesday with his people of the east look like the Chinese and those of the south look like Africans remarks.

Sam Pitroda has resigned as the Chairman of the Indian Overseas Congress. ( Image Source :Getty Images )

Sam Pitroda on Wednesday resigned as the Chairman of the Indian Overseas Congress, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said in a post on X. The Congress leader also said that party chief Mallikarjun Kharge has accepted Pitroda's decision. 

"Mr. 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.

The resignation comes hours after Pitroda triggered another controversy on Wednesday with his people of the east look like the Chinese and those of the south look like Africans remarks.

श्री सैम पित्रोदा ने अपनी मर्ज़ी से इंडियन ओवरसीज कांग्रेस के अध्यक्ष पद से इस्तीफ़ा देने का फ़ैसला किया है। कांग्रेस अध्यक्ष ने उनका इस्तीफ़ा स्वीकार कर लिया है।

Mr. Sam Pitroda has decided to step down as Chairman of the Indian Overseas Congress of his own accord. The Congress…

— Jairam Ramesh (@Jairam_Ramesh) May 8, 2024

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had led a scathing attack on the Congress on Pitroda's analogy and asserted that people will not tolerate the attempt to insult them on the basis of their skin colour. 

The Congress, however, distanced itself from Pitroda's remarks, describing those as unfortunate and unacceptable, and saying the party completely dissociates itself from the comments.

At his rallies in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, PM Modi said he is livid with the racial profiling of Indians by the US-based philosopher and uncle of 'Shehzada', and linked the Congress's opposition to Droupadi Murmu's presidential bid to its mindset, which saw her as an African because of her dark skin. 

In the podcast, Pitroda 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 the country as diverse as India together."

"Where people in the east look like the Chinese, people in the west look like the Arabs, people in the north look like, maybe, white and people in the south look like Africans. It does not matter. All of us are brothers and sisters. We respect different languages, different religions, different customs, different food, Pitroda said in the interview that was widely circulated on social media.

Series Of Controversies

The BJP on Wednesday dismissed the Congress's disassociation with the controversial comments as it noted at a press conference that Pitroda has a history of making insulting and demeaning comments, including on terrorism and the 1984 anti-Sikh riots.

His 'hua to hua' (so what) reaction to a question on the 1984 communal violence and it happens all the time reference to the Pulwama terror attack, both in 2019 as the country was gearing up for the general election, had also triggered massive rows.

Earlier during the campaign, Pitroda's reference to inheritance tax in the United States as an interesting law while discussing the Congress's Lok Sabha poll manifesto was latched onto by the BJP to accuse the opposition party of eying citizens' assets as part of its redistribution of wealth policy.