New Delhi [India], May 9 : Lashing out at former Chairman of Indian Overseas Congress Sam Pitroda's controversial "People in East look like Chinese, in South, look like Africans..." remark, Tamil Nadu Bharatiyanata Party (BJP) chief K Annamalai said that there is nothing wrong with looking like an African or Chinese.
"The Congress mindset and thinking believes that India is a land of invaders and we are descendants of invaders. And this is why his remark is a sexist, crass and abusive thing. The connotation is that we are descendants of these people, not 'Bharatiya'," said Annamalai.
"Only the Congress party which has its masters outside the country, only this party can go to the extent where it can call us descendants of invaders," he added
Strongly condemning Pitroda's remark, he said, "It is also not only feeling disgusting to us, but it also shows the mindset of Congress, and this is why our PM says we need a Congress-mukt Bharat."
Earlier in the day, Sam Pitroda ignited a firestorm while speaking on the diversity of India referring to how people in the South "look like Africans and those in the West look like Arabs and those in the East look like Chinese."
Pitroda, in an interview with 'The Statesman', while reflecting upon the democracy in India 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 Arab, people in the North look like white, and maybe people in the South look like Africans."
After his remarks caused a major political furore in election season and embarrassed the Congress, Sam Pitroda resigned as chairman of the Indian Overseas Congress on Wednesday.
"Mr Sam Pitroda has decided to step down as Chairman of the Indian Overseas Congress of his own accord. The Congress President has accepted his decision," Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said on X.