Overseas Congress chairman Sam Pitroda, who has a habit of putting his own party in difficult situations with his controversial remarks, has once again sparked a row with his statement suggesting that the Indian government should allow illegal immigrants in the country to settle here.
Pitroda, a close aide to Congress leader and Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, in a recent statement, advocated for illegal migrants to settle in India and criticised the Modi government for its failure to address this issue.
In a one-minute clip that has gone viral on social media, Pitroda can be heard saying, “If they want to come here, even illegally, let them come. We should include everybody. If we have to suffer a little bit, it’s okay. We will share, but nobody wants to share. They want to keep their pie bigger and bigger,” Pitroda said.
Pitroda expressed that the government should focus on issues related to the public, such as global warming, rather than illegal migration, while acknowledging that illegal migration is not good.
Pitroda’s statement provided the ruling BJP with an opportunity to corner the Congress party over his remarks. BJP National Spokesperson Pradeep Bhandari wasted no time in responding to Sam Pitroda’s statement and called his remark “outrageous.”
“Rahul Gandhi’s right-hand man Sam Pitroda’s statement advocating for illegal migrants to settle in India, even at the country’s expense, is shocking and irresponsible,” Bhandari said in an X post.
“Now you wonder how Congress, for the last 70 years, worked overtime to settle illegals in our country!” BJP leader added.
Pitroda, whose statements are believed to have harmed the party’s prospects in several elections, has escaped serious consequences for his controversial remarks, receiving only a rap on the knuckles from the party high command.
Last year, Pitroda faced a brief suspension from his post as Overseas Congress chairman after he said, “Northeast people look like Chinese, people in the west look like Arabs, people in the north look like white, and the south look like Africa.”
