'Will Stalin, Uddhav Accept This': PM Modi Snipes At Congress Allies As Sam Pitroda's Remarks Spark Racism Row

DMK chief MK Stalin with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi (L). PM Modi (C). Indian Overseas Congress head Sam Pitroda (R). (Images: PTI)

After lashing out at Congress for their Indian Overseas head Sam Pitroda’s racist remarks, Prime Minister Narendra Modi hit out at the grand old party’s allies in the southern and western parts of the nation.

Addressing a rally in Andhra Pradesh, PM Modi said the Shehzada’s “biggest advisor” said that people from South India look like Africans, asking “will you accept such statements?”

“Is Sam Pitroda’s statement agreeable for DMK (Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam)?” the Prime Minister asked.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin-led DMK is an ally of the Congress and a part of the opposition group — INDIA bloc.

PM Modi challenged Stalin to snap ties with the grand old party for the sake of Tamil pride and heritage.

He said that Congress’ mindset has become “divisive”, adding that it wants to break the nation into pieces. “Congress has, time and again, proved that it is against India, and against the people of India,” the Prime Minister said.

Indian Overseas Congress head Sam Pitroda, Days after his ‘inheritance tax’ remark row, once again sparked a controversy.

Considered to Rahul Gandhi’s close aide, Pitroda said people in India’s East look like Chinese and those in the South like Africans. His remarks snowballed into a massive row, with political leaders throwing heated responses at the grand old party.

Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh had to step in to handle the raging fumes of the controversy and said that analogies drawn by Pitroda in a podcast to illustrate India’s diversity are most unfortunate and unacceptable.

Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra meanwhile challenged PM Modi. She said, “PM Modi plays full toss on these useless issues. I challenge him to play full toss on employment, inflation, and atrocities on women, only then I will believe that yes someone has played.”

DMK leader TKS Elangovan said that Pitroda’s remark was unwarranted, adding that “we are not for it”.

“We are all together even though there are many religions, culture, language. Racially we have never differentiated the people of India. This is unwarranted and we are not for it,” Elangovan said.

The DMK leader distanced the party from the remark and said, “This (remark) is not ours, we talk about linguistic and cultural equality and that people living in all the states should treated equally…Ultimately what he said is that we are all together, maybe he could not explain it properly.”

Notably, the Prime Minister also raised questions at Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah and Telangana CM Revanth Reddy. “I want to ask the Congress Chief Ministers of Karnataka and Telangana, can they accept such opinions?” he asked.

Congress party thinks that people from western part of the nation look like Arabs, the PM said. “I want to ask the ‘fake Shiv Sena chief’, remember about Balasaheb Thackeray…will Maharashtra people accept it?…Congress is now making racist statements,” PM Modi added.

PM Modi’s comments were directed at Maharashtra leader Uddhav Thackeray and his party Shiv Sena.

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Priyanka Chaturvedi said, “I do not agree with his (Sam Pitroda) statement”. However, she said that Pitroda is a member of the manifesto committee, Congress’ star campaigner and asked whether he resides in the nation.

“He lives abroad. It’s unfortunate to make his issues the country’s issues… on one side it’s the issues of the people and on the other side, what Sam Pitroda is saying from America,” Chaturvedi said.

She further said, “We have nothing to do with that, neither it’s an issue, nor this country would want to react to what he says…”

Notably, the Aam Aadmi Party — also a part of the INDI alliance — distanced itself from Pitroda’s comments, saying, “As far as the remark of Sam Pitroda is concerned, none of the leaders of the INDIA alliance support that.”

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