Sam Pitroda, the Congress’s overseas unit chief, is back in his post — with an apparent caveat. The party’s communication in-charge Jairam Ramesh said Mr  Pitroda had “given an assurance” that he would, in future, leave no room for controversy. Asked about the matter, Mr Pitroda replied, a trifle sharply, that it was not the Congress view, but the view of Mr Ramesh.

“The Congress is not saying that. Jairam is saying that,” he told NDTV in an exclusive interview today. “What Jairam says is Jairam’s view, it is not necessarily the party’s view. It is okay for Jairam to say that and I respect it. I have to do what I have to do. In the process, I am entitled to make mistakes,” he said.

Mr Pitroda, who had stepped down from his post on May 8 after a couple of comments that became hugely controversial, was reinstated yesterday.

The reappointment was announced by the party in a statement. Later in the evening, Mr Ramesh said the decision was taken after Mr Pitroda clarified the context of the statements and gave an assurance that he would not “leave room for such controversies to arise” in the future.

In a post on X, Mr Ramesh said, “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,” he had added.

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…

— Jairam Ramesh (@Jairam_Ramesh) June 26, 2024

Mr Pitroda had stepped down from the party’s overseas post after his comment that India is a “diverse country… where people in the East look like the Chinese, people on West look like Arabs, people in the North look like maybe White and people in South look like Africans.”

It had triggered allegations of racism and colonial mindset. With the controversy of Mr Pitroda’s earlier comments yet to die down, the Congress had found itself firefighting on multiple fronts, its campaign focusing on unemployment, inflation, farmers issues and the Constitution completely overshadowed.

In April, Mr Pitroda had made a remark on inheritance tax in the US that had drawn a fierce attack from the BJP. He had cited inheritance tax as an example of “new policies that can “help prevent concentration of wealth” which should be discussed and debated. The Congress, he had added, always helps people at the bottom of the economic pyramid.

Mr Pitroda today admitted that he could perhaps have put it better, while making the point that the focus today is not about the meaning in a conversation but its form.

What cannot be questioned, he underscored, was his commitment to the Congress.

“I am grown up. I know my responsibility for my party. I am committed to Congress. I have been a congressman from Day One and I will remain a Congressman till I die… It has nothing to do with what I say… but my commitment to values. I believe in the Congress ideology,’ he added.

New Delhi:

Sam Pitroda — Congress’s overseas unit chief who is back in saddle after a seven-week break — today stood by his statement about diversity among Indians that were seen as racist, but admitted that he could have put it better. “It is not about words but about the meaning… but maybe I could have done a better job,” he told NDTV in an exclusive interview.  And about the row that followed that comment, he shrugged it off.

“I have to run my life. They can twist the fact that I live in Chicago and why I am talking about India… I would expect civilised conversation, dialogue… but that is lost… People are not interested in the substance of a conversation, they are interested in the form of the conversation,” he said.

Mr Pitroda had stepped down from the post in May after his two consecutive statements sparked huge controversies. He was reinstated yesterday.

In an exclusive interview with The Statesman in early May, Mr Pitroda had described India as a “diverse country… where people on East look like the Chinese, people on West look like Arabs, people in the North look like maybe White and people in South look like Africans”.

It had triggered a huge uproar in the run-up to the election, coming on the heels of his comments about inheritance tax.

Barely two weeks before, Mr Pitroda had cited inheritance tax as an example of “new policies that can “help prevent concentration of wealth” which should be discussed and debated. The Congress, he had added, always helps people at the bottom of the economic pyramid.

His remarks were interpreted as advocacy of inheritance tax in India and Prime Minister Narendra Modi had remarked that if elected, the Congress would redistribute the personal wealth of people among “infiltrators” and won’t even spare the mangalsutras of women.

Mr Pitroda today said no one had questioned him about what he meant before jumping to conclusions. “When I made the comment on inheritance tax, I did not mean that I’m proposing inheritance tax. How do you come to that conclusion?”

His comments about diversity were also twisted, he said.

“Next time I said something about – my way of saying how diverse we are, people thought it was racial. There is nothing racial in saying that we came from Africa. It is a fact of life. And who says that being black is racist? No. I am dark. My wife is not very dark. So what?” he said.

“We tend to make issues out of nothing. And that’s the reason I decided that is better to take myself out,” he added. That was the way to bring back the focus on issues that matter, he said.