Congress leader Sam Pitroda resigned from his position as Chairman of the Indian Overseas Congress, which the party has accepted. Jairam Ramesh, another Congress leader, made the announcement on X, stating that Sam Pitroda had chosen to step down from the crucial role “of his own accord”.
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
Pitroda faced criticism for his contentious comment suggesting that Indians in the East resemble the Chinese, while those in the South resemble Africans.
“We could hold together a country as diverse as India — where people on East look like Chinese, people on West look like Arab, people on North look like maybe White and people in South look like Africans. It doesn’t matter. We are all brothers and sisters,” Pitroda said during an interview with The Statesman.
“In America, there is an inheritance tax. If one has 100 million USD worth of wealth and when he dies, he can only transfer probably 45 per cent to his children and 55% goes to 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.
He later clarified that his statements were misrepresented and were unrelated to the Congress or the party’s manifesto for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.