Senior Congress leader Sam Pitroda (R), known to be close to MP Rahul Gandhi, was reappointed as the party’s overseas chairman on June 26. (Image: PTI/File)
From his ‘US has inheritance tax’ remark to his comments on the skin colour and physical appearance of Indians from different parts of the country, Sam Pitroda’s comments have repeatedly landed the Congress in a soup
Sam Pitroda, who was reappointed the Indian Overseas Congress president on Wednesday, is no stranger to political controversies. The BJP made his controversial remarks in the middle of the Lok Sabha elections a major poll issue, forcing the grand old party to act swiftly and distance itself from him.
From his ‘US has inheritance tax’ remark to his comments on the skin colour and physical appearance of Indians from different parts of the country, Pitroda’s comments have repeatedly landed the Congress in a soup. In fact, the BJP also accused him of having a history of making “insulting and demeaning” comments, including on terrorism and the 1984 anti-Sikh riots.
His “hua toh hua” (so what) reaction to a question on the 1984 communal violence and “it happens all the time” reference to the Pulwama terror attack, both in 2019 as the country was gearing up for the general elections, had also triggered controversy.
The 81-year-old politician, who was an adviser to former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, had resigned on May 8 from his post after his party called his remarks during the general elections “most unfortunate and unacceptable”. The veteran leader has accompanied MP Rahul Gandhi during his foreign visits and also arranged several of his interactions with students of foreign universities in the UK, UAE and US.
Here’s how Pitroda has been at the centre of numerous controversies:
Middle-Class People Should Not Be Selfish: Pitroda Ahead of 2019 Polls
Ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, during a TV interview, Pitroda said that the middle class should pay more taxes to guarantee a minimum income for poor households, asking them not to be “selfish.” This statement caused serious trouble for the Congress party as senior Congress leader, P Chidambaram, later had to clarify that there would be no additional tax burden on the middle class if Congress returned to power.
When Pitroda Went Soft On Pak And Opposed Balakot Airtsrike
Pitroda also received sharp criticism from the political fraternity for his remarks on the IAF strike in Balakot, where he supported Pakistan.
The politician stated, “Attack happened in Mumbai also. We could have then reacted and just sent our planes. But that is not the correct approach. Naive to assume that just because some people came here and attacked, every citizen of that nation is to be blamed.”
’84 Hua Toh Hua: When Pitroda Tried to Downplay Anti-Sikh Riots
During the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, when the BJP claimed that “instructions” for the 1984 anti-Sikh riots came from Rajiv Gandhi, Pitroda, a close aide to the former Prime Minister, denied the charge but said, “Ab kya hai ’84 ka? Aapne kya kiya 5 saal mein, uski baat kariye. ’84 mein hua to hua. Aapne kya kiya?”
Although Pitroda later apologized for the remarks, this controversial statement worked heavily against the Congress party at a time when it could not afford any more negative public sentiments.
‘Temples Won’t Create Job’: When Pitroda Questioned Ram Mandir Construction
In June 2023, at an event in the US, Pitroda said that no one in India talks about inflation, employment, and education and only discusses Ram, Hanuman, and Mandir. He made these remarks in the presence of party leader Rahul Gandhi.
“When the entire nation is hung up on Ram Temple and Ram Janmabhoomi, it bothers me…To me, religion is something very personal, and national issues are education, employment, growth, the economy, inflation, health, the environment, and pollution. But no one speaks about it,” he said.
The BJP accused the senior Congress leader of attempting to tarnish the image of India on an international platform to strengthen its politics.