Pitroda's racist remarks reflects mindset, attitude of Rahul Gandhi's mentor: Nirmala Sitharaman

Pitroda later quit from his party post after the backlash over his comments.

New Delhi: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday lashed out at Congress leader Sam Pitroda for his 'racist' remark, saying it reveals the mindset and attitude of Rahul Gandhi's mentor.

Pitroda, the head of the Indian Overseas Congress, had triggered a controversy on Wednesday with his 'people of the east look like the Chinese and those of the south look like Africans' remarks. He later quit from his party post after the backlash over his comments.

In a post on X, Sitharaman retorted saying, 'I am from South India. I look Indian! My team has enthusiastic members from north east India. They look Indian! My colleagues from west India look Indian!

'But, for the racist who is the mentor of @RahulGandhi we all look African, Chinese, Arab and the White! Thanks for revealing your mindset and your attitude. I.N.D.I alliance's shame!'.

Pitroda in a podcast interview to a media house had said: '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.'

Dissociating the party from Pitroda's remarks, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said on X: '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.'