New Delhi: Gandhi family loyalist Sam Pitroda has made a return to the helm of the Indian Overseas Congress, months after stepping down from the post following a huge political controversy that erupted over his 'racist' remarks and comments on inheritance tax.
"Hon’ble Congress President has reappointed Shri Sam Pitroda as Chairman of the Indian Overseas Congress with immediate effect," party general secretary KC Venugopal said in a statement.
Pitroda's re-appointment as the Indian Overseas Congress chief was announced by the Congress on Wednesday. The BJP was quick to react to the re-appointment of Pitroda, as it slammed the Congress saying, “The tormentor of the middle class is back.”
Amit Malviya, BJP IT cell chief, said in a post on X: “The tormentor of middle class is back…Congress hoodwinks India, brings back Sam Pitroda soon after elections.”During the Lok Sabha election campaign towards the end of April, Pitroda stirred a major controversy with his comments on inheritance tax.
The tormentor of middle class is back… Congress hoodwinks India, brings back Sam Pitroda soon after elections. हुआ तो हुआ। pic.twitter.com/kiK3lFq1QN
— Amit Malviya (@amitmalviya) June 26, 2024
His views put the Congress on the backfoot as the party was already battling to deflate the public perception that it would redistribute public wealth among impoverished classes, including minorities. "In America, there is an inheritance tax. If one has $100 million worth of wealth, when he dies, he can only transfer probably 45 per cent to his children, and the remaining 55 per cent is grabbed by the government. 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," Pitroda had said.
Pitroda had to step down on May 8 after his controversial analogy to describe India's diversity triggered a political firestorm.
His choice of words over "ethnic and racial identities like Chinese, Arabs, Whites and Africans" at a podcast to describe how Indians from different parts of the country look became a cause of major embarrassment for the Congress 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.
