Sam Pitroda resigns as Congress's overseas unit chief amid ‘racist’ remark row

Party president Kharge accepts Pitroda’s resignation

Sam Pitroda Sam Pitroda

Indian Overseas Congress chairman Sam Pitroda stepped down from his post on Wednesday evening, hours after his controversial analogy to depict India's diversity triggered a political firestorm.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge has accepted his resignation, party general secretary in-charge of communications Jairam Ramesh said.

"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," Ramesh wrote on X.

Pitroda's choice of ethnic and racial identities like Chinese, Arabs, Whites and Africans at a podcast to describe how Indians from different parts of the country look landed the Congress in yet another soup amid the Lok Sabha elections.

“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,” Pitroda had said.

The BJP termed his comments as “racist” and asserted that people will not tolerate the attempt to insult them on the basis of their skin colour.

The Congress distanced itself from Pitroda’s remarks, terming them “unfortunate” and “unacceptable”.

"Analogies drawn by Sam Pitroda in a podcast to illustrate India's diversity are most unfortunate and unacceptable. Indian National Congress completely dissociates itself from these analogies," Ramesh said in a post on X.

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