Former Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy, on Thursday, 12 September, took a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying he probably brought “bad luck” when he stepped into the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)‘s Bengaluru premises.
Kumaraswamy went on to suggest that PM Modi's presence was the reason behind ISRO losing communication with Chandrayaan-2's Vikram Lander in the wee hours of 7 September.
“He portrayed as if he himself was landing Chandrayaan-2, even though it were the scientists who worked hard on this for 10-12 years and the cabinet approval for the project was given in 2008-09, ” he told the reporters in Mysuru.
“He came here and tried to claim that the moon mission began because of him. I don’t know, maybe his stepping into the ISRO centre brought bad luck to the scientists,” he added.
PM Modi had flown down to the centre to watch the moon landing, India's first attempt at soft landing. However, the ‘Vikram’ lander lost contact with the orbiter when it was about 2.1 km from the moon's surface.
He was received by ISRO Chairperson K Sivan and other scientists. PM Modi was scheduled to watch the final descent of Chandrayaan-2 with over 60 high school students who had cleared an online quiz last month.
Boosting the morale of ISRO scientists after Chandrayaan-2 setback, Modi said that India stands in solidarity with them and the country believes that “The best is yet to come.”
(With inputs from ANI)
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