"He will not in future leave room for controversies": Jairam Ramesh on Pitroda's re-appointment

New Delhi [India], June 27 : Congress general secretary (communications) Jairam Ramesh said on Wednesday that Sam Pitroda was re-appointed as the Chairman of Indian Overseas Congress on assurance that he will not give any statement which "in future leave room for controversies to arise".
"During the recent election campaign, Sam Pitroda had made some statements and comments that were totally unacceptable to the Indian National Congress. By mutual consent, he stepped down as Chairman of Overseas Indian Congress. Subsequently, he clarified the context in which statements were made and how they were later distorted by the Modi campaign," Jairam Ramesh said in a post on X.
"The Congress President has reappointed him on the assurance that he will not in future leave room for such controversies to arise," he added.
An AICC release said earlier in the day that the Congress President has reappointed Sam Pitroda as the chairman of the Indian Overseas Congress with immediate effect.
Welcoming the decision, Indian Overseas Congress Secretary Virendra Vashist said, "@sampitroda Ji has been the father of the communication revolution in India. The NRIs are very happy with the Congress leadership giving the command of Overseas Congress to Sam Pitroda Ji because Sam Pitroda Ji is a true Gandhian. Many thanks to Honorable Congress President @kharge ji and Leader of the Opposition @RahulGandhi ji."
Pitroda had resigned from the position earlier in May this year amid controversies surrounding his remarks regarding the appearance of Indians. The Congress party then distanced itself from Pitroda's remarks.
Congress general secretary (communications) Jairam Ramesh informed about Pitroda's decision to step down through a post on X.
"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," the post mentioned.
Pitroda, in an interview with 'The Statesman', while reflecting upon the democracy in India, said, "We have survived 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 in the East look like Chinese, people in the West look like Arabs, people in the North look like whites, and maybe people in the South look like Africans."
He said the people of India respect different languages, religions, food and customs, which vary from region to region. "That's the India that I believe in, where everybody has a place and everybody compromises a little bit," he said.
As the remarks created an uproar amid the Lok Sabha elections, with the ruling BJP coming out all guns blazing against the Congress party, Jairam Ramesh said that the analogies drawn by Sam Pitroda are "most unfortunate and unacceptable."
"The analogies drawn by 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," he said in a post on X.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the people of the country will not tolerate insults based on the colour of their skin and demanded an answer from Congress leader Rahul Gandhi.
"'Shehzade aapko jawaab dena padega'. My country will not tolerate the disrespect of my countrymen based on their skin colour and Modi will never tolerate this," PM Modi said in his rally at Warangal.
"I was thinking a lot about President Droupadi Murmu, who has a very good reputation and is the daughter of an Adivasi family, then why is Congress trying so hard to defeat her but today I got to know the reason. I got to know that there is an uncle in America who is the philosophical guide of 'Shehzada' and just like the third umpire in cricket this 'Shehzada' takes advice from the third umpire," he said.
Pitroda had earlier courted controversies with his remarks on sensitive issues, including the one when he advocated for an inheritance tax-like law in the country. Emphasising the need for policy towards wealth redistribution, Pitroda elaborated on the concept of inheritance tax prevailing in America.