Sam Pitroda, a senior Congress leader and once a close confidant of the Gandhi family, is no stranger to political controversies and is known to often stir a row with his remarks on contentious or rather sensitive issues.
Once again, Pitroda put the grand old party at a spot with his ‘US has inheritance tax’ remark, an opportunity that the Bharatiya Janata Party has effectively cashed to target the Congress amid the ongoing Lok Sabha Elections.
For the unversed, Sam Pitroda, the Indian Overseas Congress head, commented on PM Modi’s ‘redistribution of wealth remark’ by stating that the United States (US) has a concept of inheritance tax, which means that 55% of a person’s wealth is handed over to the government and not their children.
While the Congress quickly distanced itself from Pitroda’s “opinions”, the statement soon snowballed into a massive row with PM Modi directly attacking the party for looting people “Zindagi ke saath bhi, Zindagi ke baad bhi.”
However, this is not the first time Pitroda landed himself and his party in a soup and a closer study of his political career provides evidence of how the 81-year-old politician has been at the centre of numerous major controversies.
Middle-Class People Should Not Be Selfish: Pitroda Ahead of 2019 Polls
Ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, during a TV interview, Pitroda said that the middle class should pay more taxes to guarantee a minimum income for poor households, asking them not to be “selfish.” This statement caused serious trouble for the Congress party as senior Congress leader, P Chidambaram, later had to clarify that there would be no additional tax burden on the middle class if Congress returned to power.
When Pitroda Went Soft On Pak And Opposed Balakot Airtsrike
Pitroda also received sharp criticism from the political fraternity for his remarks on the IAF strike in Balakot, where he supported Pakistan.
The politician stated, “Attack happened in Mumbai also. We could have then reacted and just sent our planes. But that is not the correct approach. Naive to assume that just because some people came here and attacked, every citizen of that nation is to be blamed.”
84 Hua Toh Hua: When Pitroda Tried to Downplay Anti-Sikh Riots
uring the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, when the BJP claimed that “instructions” for the 1984 anti-Sikh riots came from Rajiv Gandhi, Pitroda, a close aide to the former Prime Minister, denied the charge but said, “Ab kya hai ’84 ka? Aapne kya kiya 5 saal mein, uski baat kariye. ’84 mein hua to hua. Aapne kya kiya?”
Although Pitroda later apologized for the remarks, this controversial statement worked heavily against the Congress party at a time when it could not afford any more negative public sentiments.
‘Temples Won’t Create Job’: When Pitroda Questioned Ram Mandir Construction
In June 2023, at an event in the US, Pitroda said that no one in India talks about inflation, employment, and education and only discusses Ram, Hanuman, and Mandir. He made these remarks in the presence of party leader Rahul Gandhi.
“When the entire nation is hung up on Ram Temple and Ram Janmabhoomi, it bothers me…To me, religion is something very personal, and national issues are education, employment, growth, the economy, inflation, health, the environment, and pollution. But no one speaks about it,” he said.
The BJP accused the senior Congress leader of attempting to tarnish the image of India on an international platform to strengthen its politics.
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