NEW DELHI: Remember this post on X by Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on June 26, 2024: “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. The Congress President has reappointed him on the assurance that he will not in future leave room for such controversies to arise.”
The Congress spokesperson had then put out this clarification to justify/announce the reinstatement of Sam Pitroda of “Hua to Hua” and “South Indians like Africans” fame as the chairman of the Overseas Indian Congress. This was nearly one and a half months after Pitroda was removed from the post following two controversial statements made during the 2024 Lok Sabha campaign — first on inheritance tax and then on racial profiling.
Well, 8 months down the line, Pitroda forgot the assurance he gave to the Congress and created a new room for yet another controversy to embarrass the Congress. This time his remarks were on China.
“I don’t know what is the threat from China. I think this issue is often blown out of proportion because the US has the habit of defining an enemy. I think the time has come for all of us to learn, increase communication, collaborate, operate and co-create and not have this command and control mindset. China is around… China is growing .. you know you got to recognise that and respect that … ,” Pitroda said in an interview to IANS news agency.
As expected, his remarks gave the BJP an opportunity to target the Congress and its leader Rahul Gandhi. BJP national spokesperson and MP Sudhanshu Trivedi claimed that Pitroda’s comments should not be seen in isolation as he recalled Rahul Gandhi‘s positive words in the past for China’s growth story and the manner in which it tackled issues like unemployment.
What Pitroda has said is a severe blow to India’s prestige, diplomacy and sovereignty, the BJP MP said, accusing the veteran Congress functionary of speaking as if it is India which is the aggressor in the conflict with China.
Also read: Sam Pitroda’s China remark draws BJP’s ire
Pushed to the corner once again, the Congress, which has learned the art of “distancing” from most of Pitroda’s remarks, was quick to do it again. So, we had Jairam Ramesh once again taking to X to issue another denial of Pitroda’s remarks. “The views reportedly expressed by Mr. Sam Pitroda on China are most definitely NOT the views of the Indian National Congress,” Jairam said.
“China remains our foremost foreign policy, external security, as well as economic challenge. The INC has repeatedly raised questions on the Modi Govt’s approach to China, including the PM’s public clean chit to it on June 19, 2020. Our most recent statement on China was on 28th January, 2025,” he added.
The Congress leader added a statement made by him on January 28 targeting the Modi government over China and questioning the disengagement agreement of October 21, 2024.
Pitroda has put the Congress in the dock several times in the past. Here’s a look at some of his past statements that have embarrassed the party:
On inheritance tax
In the middle of 2024 Lok Sabha campaign, Pitroda backed the idea of an inheritance tax and cited the example of the US. “Nothing wrong in accumulating wealth but to what point? Let me tell you, in America there’s an inheritance tax. So, if let’s say one has $100 million worth of wealth, and when he dies he can transfer probably 45% to his children, 55% is grabbed by govt. Now that’s an interesting law. It says you, in your generation made wealth, and you are leaving now, you must leave your wealth for the public – not all of it, half of it, which to me sounds fair. In India you don’t have that. If somebody is worth $10 billion and dies his children get $10 billion. The public gets nothing. So these are the kinds of issues that people will have to debate and discuss.”
‘People of the south look like Africans’
Pitroda made a second remark during the course of 2024 LS campaign. “We are a shining example of democracy in the world…we could hold country together as diverse as India where people in East look like Chinese, people in West look like Arab, people in North look like maybe white and people in South look like Africa. Doesn’t matter, we are all brothers and sisters,” said the chairman of the Indian Overseas Congress.
On Ram Mandir
In June 2023, when the country was waiting for the grand Ram Mandir opening, Pitroda gave BJP ammunition to attack the Congress as he said that temples were not going to solve India’s problems of unemployment, inflation, education, and health. “No one talks about these things. But everyone talks about Ram, Hanuman, and Mandir. I have said that temples are not going to create jobs,” he said.
On 1984 anti-Sikh riots
In May 2019, Pitroda “hua to hua” (so what) when he was asked about the 1984 anti-Sikh riots. “Ab kya hai ’84 ka? Aapne kya kiya 5 saal mein, uski baat kariye. ’84 mein hua to hua. You were voted to create jobs. You were voted to create 200 smart cities. Aapne wo bhi nahi kiya. Aapne kuch nahi kiya isliye aap yahan wahan gup lagate hain’,” Pitroda had then said.
On Pulwama attack
In February 2019, Pitroda kicked up a storm as he raised questions on Balakot air strikes by the Indian Air Force which were carried out in retaliation to the Pulwama attacks. “I don’t know much about attacks. It happens all the time. The attack happened in Mumbai, also. We could have then reacted and just sent our planes, but that is not the right approach. According to me, that’s not how you deal with the world,” Pitroda had said.
Nehru vs Ambedkar on Constitution
Citing an article by Sudheendra Kulkarni, a former close aide of BJP veteran LK Advani, Pitorda in a social media post had claimed that India’s first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, contributed more than BR Ambedkar in the framing of the Constitution. Pitroda later deleted the post.
On Nyay scheme
Pitroda put the Congress party in a tough spot in April 2019 when he said that the middle class should not be selfish. They should be prepared to shell out more taxes to fund the party’s proposed NYAY, a scheme promising a guaranteed minimum income for every poor household, he had said.
Clearly Sam Pitroda, who is perceived close to the Gandhis by virtue of being a very close associate of former Prime Minister late Rajiv Gandhi, has a penchant for courting controversies, much to the Congress’s discomfort. But Pitroda could do well to keep away from speaking on sensitive issues like China, on which the party is already under attack over repeated remarks made by Rahul Gandhi – the latest one being his criticism of government’s drone policy in a video using what appeared as Chinese drones.
Rahul’s video evoked strong reaction from the president of the Drone Federation of India Smit Shah who said that it is quite discomforting for him and the community to see someone with significant responsibility to say that no one understands drone technology in India.
“When someone with significant responsibility takes up a Chinese drone and belittles the entire industry, then young people like me have to speak up. There are over 400 companies in our country and about 40 to 50 drone component companies that are working very hard to deal with all these challenges,” Samit Shah said.
“And then someone whose personality is followed by at least some section of society comes and takes up a Chinese drone and says that we don’t understand anything in India and none of these parts are made in India. So it is quite discouraging,” he added. That explains why Pitroda’s remarks on China gives the BJP an opportunity to say that it represents the official mindset of the Congress party.
For now, the Congress would do well to remind Pitroda about his promise made in June 2024 and hope that the repeat offender does not do it again.