Sam Pitroda back as chairman of Indian Overseas Congress

New Delhi: Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday reappointed Sam Pitroda as chairman of the Indian Overseas Congress, weeks after he resigned from the post following some controversial remarks in the middle of Lok Sabha elections which the BJP termed as "racist".

Pitroda, who is considered a close aide of Rahul Gandhi, resigned from the post on May 8, and his resignation was accepted by the Congress chief.

Pitroda had stoked a major controversy with his remarks during a podcast where he cited ethnic and racial identities like Chinese, Africans, Arabs and Whites to describe the physical appearance of Indians from different parts of the country.

The BJP made Pitroda's remarks a poll issue, forcing the Congress to act swiftly and distance itself from his remarks, calling them "most unfortunate and unacceptable". (PTI)