Sam Pitroda, Congress veteran and chairperson of the Indian Overseas Congress, sparked a fresh controversy by advocating for illegal migrants to settle in India and lashed out at the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government for “hounding” them.
Pitroda’s remarks come at a time when Delhi braces itself for assembly polls slated for February 5. The issue of illegal immigration has been a burning topic during poll campaigning in the national capital, with the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) trading charges of sheltering them illegally to seek their votes in the upcoming elections in the national capital.
In a video that has gone viral, Pitroda, who often finds himself in the middle of controversies, asserted that the central government should shift its focus more to issues like global warming than hounding “poor and hungry” immigrants. “They do so much work to come here. Even though illegal immigration is wrong, we are busy targeting illegal Bangladeshis and minorities,” Pitroda, who is also a close aide of Rahul Gandhi, was heard saying in the video. “We should include everybody. If we have to suffer a little bit, it’s okay. But nobody wants to share (resources). They want to keep their pie bigger and bigger,” he asserted.
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.
Now you wonder how Congress since the last 70 years worked overtime to settle ILLEGALS in our… pic.twitter.com/kKVFusDD71
— Pradeep Bhandari(प्रदीप भंडारी)(@pradip103) January 27, 2025
The issue of immigration has been at the centre of the poll campaigning in Delhi and has played an instrumental role in shaping the narrative ahead of the highly anticipated polls.
On the one hand, the Delhi Police has stepped up its crackdown on illegal Bangladeshi immigrants, while on the other hand, this issue has found a place in the BJP’s poll manifesto. The saffron party has vowed to free the national capital from illegal Bangladeshis and Rohingyas if it is voted into power.
During the poll campaign, the BJP has raked up this issue on several occasions and accused the AAP of getting ration and Aadhaar cards made for Bangladeshi ‘infiltrators’ to secure their votes. AAP, however, has dismissed the charge. After the undated video of Pitroda went viral, the BJP was quick enough to take the attack to Congress over his remark dubbing it “outrageous.” BJP’s Pradeep Bhandari took to the social media platform X and shared the video.
“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. “Now you wonder how Congress, since the last 70 years, worked overtime to settle illegals in our country!” he further stated.
Pitroda is, however, not new to controversies, and he had to step down from his post last year during the Lok Sabha elections following his remark that Indians in the East resemble the Chinese while those in the South look like Africans, which triggered widespread criticism and drew flak from the BJP.
In an interview with ‘The Statesman,’ the Congress veteran reflected upon the democracy in India and said, “We have survived 75 years in a very happy environment where people could live together, leaving aside a few fights here and there. We could hold a country together as diverse as India, where people in the East look like Chinese, people in the West look like Arabs, people in the North look like whites, and maybe people in the South look like Africans.”
After the remarks created an uproar amid the Lok Sabha polls, with the ruling saffron party attacking the Congress party, Jairam Ramesh said that the analogies drawn by Sam Pitroda are “most unfortunate and unacceptable.”
In Delhi, assembly polls are slated to be held on February 5, and the counting of votes will take place on February 8. The national capital is witnessing a three-cornered battle in the elections between the BJP, Congress, and the ruling AAP.
