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

Sam Pitroda stepped down as the Chairman of Indian Overseas Congress on Wednesday evening, hours after his analogy to depict India's diversity triggered a political firestorm.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge has accepted his resignation, party General Secretary in-charge 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.

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

In an interview to a media house, Pitroda called India a shining example of democracy in the world, and said: “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."

His remarks, amid the Lok Sabha elections, has put the grand old party in a fix. The party distanced itself from his 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.