New Delhi: While the Chandrayaan-3 launch was a proud moment for all, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress clashed on social media after ISRO claimed credit for the third lunar mission. Congress leader KC Venugopal tweeted that ISRO was a vision of first Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and was supported and taken forward by subsequent Congress Prime Ministers like Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi and Dr Manmohan Singh during their tenure. However, the BJP did not take it lightly and party leader Amit Malviya called it a desperate attempt by the Congress to take credit for the Chandrayaan 3 launch. Malviya said that out of 424 foreign satellites launched by ISRO so far, 389 have been launched in the last nine years under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“Dreamed of by Pandit Nehru, nurtured by Indira Gandhi and taken to great heights by Rajiv Gandhi and Dr. Manmohan Singh, ISRO has achieved a new milestone! A proud moment for all, when we enthusiastically Watching #Chandrayaan3 take off to conquer the Moon! Jai Hind,” KC Venugopal tweeted.
Responding to his tweet, Malviya said, “Small fact is Nehru died in May 1964 and ISRO was established in August 1969. It does not end here… Of the 424 foreign satellites launched by India so far, 389 were launched last.” Nine years into Prime Ministership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Only 35 were launched before 2014. It is clear that Nehru did not do much other than dream… Worse, nobody from Indira to Manmohan took Nehru’s dream seriously.
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Eager to take due credit for the successful launch of Chandrayaan 3, the Congress claimed that it all happened because Nehru had ‘dreamed up’ ISRO. The small fact is that Nehru died in May 1964 and ISRO was established in August 1969. It doesn’t end here…
Out of 424 foreign… https://t.co/UHyM23iEsO— Amit Malviya (@amitmalviya) 14 July 2023
ISRO’s Chandrayaan 3 lifted off from the Sriharikota launch pad in Andhra Pradesh at 2.35 pm on Friday and was successfully placed into orbit by the ‘Fat Boy’ LVM3 – M4 rocket.
Despite the hot and dry weather, over 10,000 space enthusiasts from Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka witnessed the launch from the special space gallery set up by ISRO near the main entrance of the Satish Dhawan Space Center (SDSC).
Scientists said that after liftoff at 2.35 pm on Friday, the propulsion module will separate from the rocket after about 16 minutes and will orbit the Earth about 5-6 times in an elliptical orbit with 170 km nearest and 36,500 km distant. The Earth is moving towards the orbit of the Moon. If all goes well, the spacecraft will land on the moon on August 23.