INDIA Parties Congratulate ISRO Family of 'Present and Past'
The Wire Staff
New Delhi: Meeting in Mumbai to fix a pathway ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha election, the coalition of opposition parties united under the acronym INDIA, have released a joint statement congratulating India's space agency for its many achievements and especially the Chandrayaan 3 moon landing.
The parties which look to take on the Bharatiya Janata Party in the general polls, have noted that they wish to congratulate the Indian Space Research Organisation family – "present and past". The use of the phrase is significant as the Narendra Modi government and the BJP have been keen to portray India's successful moon landing as the success of the present regime.
The Vikram lander soft-landed on the lunar surface on August 23.
“We, the INDIA parties congratulate the entire ISRO family — present and past — for its outstanding achievements which have made our country proud. It has taken six decades to build, expand and deepen ISRO’s capacities and capabilities," the statement notes.
The Indian National Committee for Space Research (INCOSPAR) was set up under India's first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, in 1962. In 1969, it was rebranded as ISRO.
"Chandrayaan-3 has thrilled the world, which is looking eagerly to the launch of Aditya-L1 tomorrow. We hope that the extraordinary accomplishments of ISRO strengthen the spirit of scientific temper in our society and give our youth the inspiration to excel in fields of scientific endeavour," the INDIA parties wrote in their statement.
Congress, one of the parties of the INDIA alliance had earlier said that prime minister Narendra Modi had hogged the limelight of India's Chandrayaan-3's success.
The excitement and pride of the #Chandrayaan3 landing will stay with us for a long time. ISRO Chairman Dr. Somanath’s leadership truly created history and we extend our hearty congratulations to him and his team.
However, the PM must answer some for his hypocrisy.
You were… pic.twitter.com/USwpJbtx2l
— K C Venugopal (@kcvenugopalmp) August 24, 2023
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