Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge reappointed Sam Pitroda as the chairman of the Indian Overseas Congress on Wednesday, with immediate effect. A month earlier, on May 8, during the Lok Sabha elections, Pitroda had resigned from the post following his controversial remarks while talking about diversity of India.
Controversial Remarks and Resignation
In an interview with ‘The Statesman‘, he said, “Over the past 75 years, we have thrived in a harmonious environment where people coexisted peacefully, despite occasional disagreements. We could hold a country together as diverse as India where people in the East look like Chinese, people in the West look like Arab, people in the North look like maybe white and people in the South look like Africa. Doesn’t matter, we are all brothers and sisters.”
Bharatiya Janata Party Called Pitroda’s Remarks to be “racist.”
The Bhartiya Janata Party leaders highly criticized his remarks as “racist.” BJP leader and Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sharma, and BJP Spokesperson Shehzad Poonawala slammed Pitroda’s statements as objectionable and insulting. Poonawala called it “racist comments by a man who is the guru of Rahul Gandhi”. He further accused Congress of dividing people on the aspects of caste, religion and language, and now aiming to divide Indians further.
Sam Pitroda Reinstated By Congress
On Wednesday, AICC General Secretary K C Venugopal announced that Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge reinstated Sam Pitroda back to his previous position.
Background of Sam Pitroda
Satyanarayan Gangaram Pitroda, famously known as Sam Pitroda a.k.a the Father of India’s communication revolution, is an Indian telecommunication engineer, development thinker, policy maker, and entrepreneur. Throughout his career, he has held advisory roles, served as an advisor to former Prime Ministers Rajiv Gandhi and Manmohan Singh. In addition to that, he served as the Chairman of the National Knowledge Commission, contributing significantly to technology, knowledge and education sectors in India.
Sam Pitroda: “was not sacked, but willingly stepped down.”
Recently, in an interview with Rajdeep Sardesai of India Today, Pitroda criticized Indian media making assumptions and publishing non-verified headlines. He clarified “I was not sacked. I stepped down willingly. The remarks were not racist. It is the racist people who thought it was racist.”
For more details, check the video on his official YouTube channel:
Adding to the criticism of Pitroda’s reinstatement, BJP IT Cell head Amit Malviya tweeted on his official X account “The tormentor of middle class is back… Congress hoodwinks India, brings back Sam Pitroda soon after elections.”
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