From ‘hua to hua’ on anti-Sikh riots to inheritance tax: Sam Pitroda drags Congress into another row

In 1989, he became the first chairman of the Telecom Commission and also headed the National Knowledge Commission from 2005 to 2009 under PM Manmohan Singh. In 2009, he was appointed as an adviser to the PM on public information infrastructure with the rank of a Cabinet minister. Pitroda also organises Congress MP Rahul Gandhi’s international speaking events, among other engagements.

However, the Congress’s go-to man in technological matters has made multiple statements in the past that have hurt the party. Like this time, the party has had to dissociate itself from his earlier statements too.

On Wednesday, he commented on American inheritance laws in an interview with ANI. “It says you in your generation made wealth and you are leaving now, you must leave your wealth for the public… not all of it, half of it, which to me sounds fair,” Pitroda said. However, only some US states levy an inheritance tax up to 20%.

The remarks by Pitroda came when the Congress was already on the back foot over the issue, with PM Narendra Modi claiming that the Congress manifesto showed it intended to redistribute the nation’s wealth. (The Congress has refuted this and said the party would approach the Election Commission demanding action against Modi.)

On Wednesday, as soon as Pitroda’s remarks became public, the PM and Union Home Minister Amit Shah latched onto them, to sharpen their attack on the Congress.

Congress’s general secretary (communications) and senior leader Jairam Ramesh clarified that Pitroda’s views did not reflect the views of the party, while the Indian Overseas Congress leader said his remarks had been misconstrued.

But this isn’t the first controversy sparked by Pitroda in recent years.

Ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, Pitroda had said in a TV interview that the middle class should be prepared to pay more taxes to guarantee minimum income for all poor households, asking them not to be “selfish”. Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram had to later clarify there would be no additional tax burden on the middle class if the Congress returned to power.

Then his remarks on the IAF strike in Balakot and countering terrorism drew sharp attacks from the BJP. “Attack happened in Mumbai also. We could have then reacted and just sent our planes. But that is not the correct approach. Eight people (26/11 terrorists) come and do something, you don’t jump on the entire nation (Pakistan). Naive to assume that just because some people came here and attacked, every citizen of that nation is to be blamed,” Pitroda had said.

During the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, when the BJP claimed that “instructions” for the 1984 anti-Sikh riots came from Rajiv Gandhi, Pitroda denied the charge but said, “Ab kya hai ’84 ka? Aapne kya kiya 5 saal mein, uski baat kariye. ’84 mein hua to hua. Aapne kya kiya? (Now what is there to say about 1984? Talk about what you did in the last 5 years. What happened in 1984 happened. But what have you achieved?).” Pitroda later apologised and the Congress issued a clarification.

In June 2023, Pitroda said at an event in the US in the presence of Rahul Gandhi, “We have a problem with unemployment, inflation, education and health. No one talks about these things. But everyone talks about Ram, Hanuman and Mandir. I have said that temples are not going to create jobs.”

Pitroda also threatened to shake the Congress’s tightrope walk in the run-up to the consecration of the Ram Temple at Ayodhya when the BJP was accusing Opposition parties of disregarding Lord Ram and hurting sentiments. “When the entire nation is hung up on Ram Temple and Ram Janmabhoomi, it bothers me…To me, religion is something very personal and national issues are education, employment, growth, economy, inflation, health, environment, pollution. But no one speaks about it,” Pitroda said.

Earlier this year, Pitroda shared on X a writeup by Sudheendra Kulkarni, a columnist earlier close to the BJP, that credited former PM Jawaharlal Nehru and not B R Ambedkar with the making of the Indian Constitution, before deleting the post. The BJP had then attacked the Congress, accusing it of undermining Ambedkar’s legacy.