Sam Pitroda Resigns As Indian Overseas Congress Chief After Controversial Comment

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 […]

Sam Pitroda
by Avijit Gupta - May 8, 2024, 11:08 pm

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”.


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.

The Congress promptly distanced itself from Pitroda’s comments, describing them as “unacceptable.”
“The analogies drawn by Mr 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,” Jairam Ramesh said in a post on X.
The BJP also criticized the Congress for Pitroda’s comments, labeling them as “racist and divisive.”
Prior to this incident, Sam Pitroda stirred controversy when he seemed to endorse the implementation of a US-style Inheritance Tax in India.
During an interview with news agency ANI, Sam Pitroda advocated for a policy aimed at wealth redistribution, citing the concept of inheritance tax in certain American states.

“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.

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