Sam Pitroda steps down as Congress overseas chairman after row over Indian diversity remarks
The Opposition party had distanced itself from the comments, labelling them as ‘unfortunate and unacceptable’.
Congress leader Sam Pitroda on Wednesday resigned from the post of chairman of the Indian Overseas Congress after his remarks on India’s diversity sparked a controversy.
Congress leader Jairam Ramesh announced the development on X, saying that Pitroda had stepped down from the post “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
In an interview with The Statesman on Thursday, Pitroda said that India had survived for 75 years in “a very happy environment where people could live together, leaving aside a few fights here and there”.
“We could hold a country together as diverse as India, where people on the east look like Chinese, people on the West look like Arab, people on the North look like white and maybe people on the South look like Africans,” the Indian Overseas Congress chairman remarked.
The party had distanced itself from his remarks, labelling them as “unfortunate and unacceptable”.
Ramesh, responding to Pitroda’s remarks on social media, said that the Opposition party “rejects these analogies”.
Ramesh’s clarification came...
