Sam Pitroda re-appointed as chairman of Indian Overseas Congress months after resigning over racist comments

Sam Pitroda has been re-appointed as chairman of the Indian Overseas Congress, months after resigning from the post following an outrage over his 'racist' comments.

In May this year, Pitroda triggered controversy after saying that "people of the east look like the Chinese and those of the south look like Africans".

In a podcast, Pitroda stated, "Over the past 75 years, we have thrived in a harmonious environment where people coexisted peacefully, despite occasional disagreements."


"We could hold the country as diverse as India together. Where people in the east look like the Chinese, people in the west look like the Arabs, people in the north look like, maybe, white and people in the south look like Africans. It does not matter. All of us are brothers and sisters. We respect different languages, different religions, different customs, different food," Pitroda said in the interview that was widely circulated on social media.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) slammed Pitroda for his "racist" comments and accused the Congress party of practicing "divisive" politics.

The Congress party had then distanced itself from Pitroda's statements, terming them as regrettable and inappropriate.