'Blatantly racist': Congress on Modi's jibe over Pitroda's remarks
Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram on Thursday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of stirring up a debate on the "skin color of Indians." On Wednesday, PM Modi used Congress leader Sam Pitroda's recent remarks on skin color of Indians to say that the Congress did not vote for Droupadi Murmu during the 2022 Presidential elections because she was dark-skinned. Chidambaram labeled the PM's response as "irrelevant and blatantly racist."
Why does this story matter?
On Wednesday, Pitroda sparked a controversy with his statement on India's diversity in which he said people in South India "look like Africans ...those in the East look like Arabs...those in the East look like Chinese." Pitroda's comments drew a sharp reaction from various quarters, with several Bharatiya Janata Party leaders condemning his statements online. In the evening, the Congress officially distanced itself from his remarks. Shortly after, Pitroda resigned from the post of chairman, Indian Overseas Congress
PM's attacks Congress, Gandhi over Pitroda's statement
During a rally in Warangal, Telangana on Wednesday, PM Modi mounted an attack on the Congress and party leader Rahul Gandhi over Pitroda's statement, terming it "utter racist." "Shehzada [Gandhi]...has to answer. My country will not tolerate the disrespect of my countrymen based of their skin color," he said. "I was thinking a lot...Murmu who has a very good reputation...is...daughter of Adivasi family...why is Congress trying so hard to defeat her...but today I got to know the reason," he added.
'Why bring skin color in election debate'
Responding to the PM's remarks, Chidambaram said that the decision to support a candidate is based on politics and not skin color. "In the last [presidential] election...there were two candidates...Murmu and...Yashwant Sinha. The BJP and its allies supported...Murmu. 17 Opposition parties, including Congress, supported...Sinha. Support for a candidate was not based on the color of the skin...Why did...PM bring the color of the skin into the election debate?" the former Union Minister said in an X post.
Read: Chidambaram's post here
Pitroda's statement that triggered a row
To recall, Pitroda made the remarks during an interview with The Statesman. While speaking about India's diversity, he said, "We have survived 75 years in a very happy environment...We could hold the country as diverse...Where people in...east look like...Chinese...people in west look like Arabs, people in the north look like...white...people in south look like Africans," he said. "It does not matter. All of us are brothers and sisters. We respect different languages, different religions, different customs, different food," he added.
'Unacceptable': Jairam Ramesh on Pitroda's comment
Amid the backlash, senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh responded to these remarks, labeling them as "most unfortunate and unacceptable." In a statement on X, Ramesh said, "The analogies drawn by Mr. Sam Pitroda in a podcast to illustrate India's diversity are most unfortunate and unacceptable. The Indian National Congress completely dissociates itself from these analogies."
