A day after being reinstated as Overseas Indian Congress chief, Sam Pitroda on Thursday reacted to Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh’s claim that the former had assured leaders that he would leave no room for controversy, saying he would not It was the opinion of the party. .
Sam Pitroda – who was forced to resign on May 8 due to the political storm triggered by a series of controversial comments amid the Lok Sabha elections – said what Jairam Ramesh said was “Jairam’s view”, not the party’s stance on the matter.
Sam Pitroda, a close confidant of opposition leader Rahul Gandhi, said he has the right to make mistakes.
“Congress is not saying that. Jairam is saying that. What Jairam is saying is Jairam’s opinion, it is not necessarily the opinion of the party. It is okay for Jairam to say that and I respect that. I have to do what I have to do. In the process I have the right to make mistakes,” he told NDTV.
Before the Lok Sabha elections, Sam Pitroda had sparked a huge political controversy with his comments on inheritance tax in the United States. The BJP latched on to Pitroda’s comments and claimed that the Congress wanted to snatch away people’s hard-earned wealth.
Also read: Sam Pitroda returns: BJP claims hypocrisy after Congress’ ‘no controversy’ promise
Pitroda told the channel that he was not proposing an inheritance tax.
He also explained his comment that Northeasterners look like Chinese, saying it was his way of saying “how diverse we are.”
He said there was nothing racial about saying “we come from Africa.”
Also read: Sam Pitroda’s re-election means Cong backs his ‘nasty’ comments: BJP
After Sam Pitroda’s reinstatement, Jairam Ramesh said he was appointed with an assurance that he would not leave room for such controversies in future.
“During the recent election campaign, Sam Pitroda had made some statements and comments that were unacceptable to the Indian National Congress. He resigned as the Overseas Indian Congress President in a concerted effort. He later clarified the context in which the statements were made and how they were later distorted by the Modi campaign,” Jairam Ramesh said in a post on X.
“The President of Congress has reappointed him with the assurance that in the future he will not leave room for this type of controversies to arise,” he added.
The BJP reacted sharply to the Congress move, saying that removing Pitroda was just an electoral gimmick.
