Sam Pitroda, Congress veteran and chairperson of the Indian Abroad Congress, sparked a recent controversy by advocating for unlawful migrants to settle in India and lashed out on the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led authorities for “hounding” them.
Pitroda’s remarks come at a time when Delhi braces itself for meeting polls slated for February 5. The problem of unlawful immigration has been a burning subject throughout ballot campaigning within the nationwide capital, with the ruling Aam Aadmi Celebration (AAP) and the Bharatiya Janata Celebration (BJP) buying and selling fees of sheltering them illegally to hunt their votes within the upcoming elections within the nationwide capital.
In a video that has gone viral, Pitroda, who usually finds himself in the midst of controversies, asserted that the central authorities ought to shift its focus extra to points like international warming than hounding “poor and hungry” immigrants. “They achieve this a lot work to return right here. Regardless that unlawful immigration is mistaken, we’re busy focusing on unlawful Bangladeshis and minorities,” Pitroda, who can be a detailed aide of Rahul Gandhi, was heard saying within the video. “We must always embrace everyone. If we’ve to undergo somewhat bit, it is okay. However no one desires to share (assets). They need to preserve their pie greater and greater,” he asserted.
OUTRAGEOUS!
Rahul Gandhi’s proper hand man Sam Pitroda’s assertion advocating for unlawful migrants to settle in India, even on the nation’s expense, is surprising and irresponsible.
Now you marvel how Congress because the final 70 years labored additional time to settle ILLEGALS in our… pic.twitter.com/kKVFusDD71
— Pradeep Bhandari(प्रदीप भंडारी)(@pradip103) January 27, 2025
The problem of immigration has been on the centre of the ballot campaigning in Delhi and has performed an instrumental position in shaping the narrative forward of the extremely anticipated polls.
On the one hand, the Delhi Police has stepped up its crackdown on unlawful Bangladeshi immigrants, whereas then again, this concern has discovered a spot within the BJP’s ballot manifesto. The saffron social gathering has vowed to free the nationwide capital from unlawful Bangladeshis and Rohingyas whether it is voted into energy.
In the course of the ballot marketing campaign, the BJP has raked up this concern on a number of events and accused the AAP of getting ration and Aadhaar playing cards made for Bangladeshi ‘infiltrators’ to safe their votes. AAP, nonetheless, has dismissed the cost. After the undated video of Pitroda went viral, the BJP was fast sufficient to take the assault to Congress over his comment 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 assertion advocating for unlawful migrants to settle in India, even on the nation’s expense, is surprising and irresponsible,” Bhandari mentioned. “Now you marvel how Congress, because the final 70 years, labored additional time to settle illegals in our nation!” he additional said.
Pitroda is, nonetheless, not new to controversies, and he needed to step down from his submit final 12 months through the Lok Sabha elections following his comment that Indians within the East resemble the Chinese language whereas these within the South seem like Africans, which triggered widespread criticism and drew flak from the BJP.
In an interview with ‘The Statesman,’ the Congress veteran mirrored upon the democracy in India and mentioned, “We have now survived 75 years in a really completely satisfied setting the place individuals might stay collectively, leaving apart a couple of fights right here and there. We might maintain a rustic collectively as various as India, the place individuals within the East seem like Chinese language, individuals within the West seem like Arabs, individuals within the North seem like whites, and perhaps individuals within the South seem like Africans.”
After the remarks created an uproar amid the Lok Sabha polls, with the ruling saffron social gathering attacking the Congress social gathering, Jairam Ramesh mentioned that the analogies drawn by Sam Pitroda are “most unlucky and unacceptable.”
In Delhi, meeting polls are slated to be held on February 5, and the counting of votes will happen on February 8. The nationwide capital is witnessing a three-cornered battle within the elections between the BJP, Congress, and the ruling AAP.