New Delhi: The success of Chandrayaan-3 is an achievement of the system, “not of one person”, the Congress said, harping on ISRO’s history since 1962 and the contribution of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru to India’s space mission.
At 6.04 pm Wednesday, India cemented its place in space history by becoming the first country to reach the Moon’s south pole.
“The success of Chandrayaan-3 is the collective success of every Indian. An elated nation with 140 crore aspirations witnessed today yet another achievement in its six-decade long space programme,” Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said in an official statement.
Appreciating the work of India’s scientists, space engineers, researchers, Kharge counted ISRO’s achievements, including Chandrayaan-1 and -2 and Mangalyaan.
“These accomplishments are a testament to the vision of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru who emphasised and sincerely believed that a critical commitment to science could drive the spirit of development of our newly independent nation by igniting the spirit and minds of the people. Which was later followed by successive Prime Ministers,” Kharge said.
Congress party’s official handle on social media platform X emphatically credited India’s first prime minister with the success of Chandrayan-3, saying “it is a result of his early efforts”.
India's voyage to the moon and beyond is a tale of pride, determination & vision.
It was independent India’s first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, whose scientific outlook and vision laid the foundation of Indian space research.
Today, the success of Chandrayaan-III is a… pic.twitter.com/Uc1PiIIesl
— Congress (@INCIndia) August 23, 2023
The opposition party also released a video of India’s space journey, featuring pictures of Nehru and Indira Gandhi.
भारत की अंतरिक्ष यात्रा 🇮🇳 pic.twitter.com/zXA1WfQjbx
— Congress (@INCIndia) August 23, 2023
The Congress party’s statement came soon after Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is in Johannesburg for the BRICS summit, addressed the nation and congratulated the scientists.
“India’s successful moon mission is not India’s alone…Our approach of one earth, one family, one future is resonating across the globe…Moon mission is based on the same human centric approach. So, this success belongs to all of humanity,” Modi said, adding that the Chandrayaan-3’s landing is a historic moment and sounds the bugle for a developed India.
Also Read: ‘Work of a generation of scientists,’ says ISRO chairman on successful Chandrayaan-3 landing
Rahul & Priyanka strike similar tone
Senior Congress leaders, including Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi, focussed on how Wednesday’s achievement was a result of decades of hard work.
“Chandrayaan3’s soft landing on the uncharted lunar South Pole is the result of decades of tremendous ingenuity and hard work by our scientific community. Since 1962, India’s space program has continued to scale new heights and inspire generations of young dreamers,” Rahul tweeted.
Priyanka started her message saying, “India’s space programme, which started in 1962, today set a new height in the form of Chandrayaan 3.”
Calling the success of Chandrayaan 3 “a saga of continuity”, Congress communications head Jairam Ramesh recalled achievements that mostly took place during the Congress governments.
“Today’s achievement is a result of team effort. It is the system’s achievement, not that of one person. (System) where people..along with teams… work with a collective mindset,” Ramesh said in his two-minute video.
Ramesh spoke about how INCOSPAR (Indian National Committee for Space Research) was established in 1962, giving credit to scientists Homi Bhabha and Vikram Sarabhai.
In August of 1969, the “development oriented, development anchored” Vikram Sarabhai, established ISRO, Ramesh said.
He further paid tribute to mathematician and aerospace engineer Satish Dhawan’s “extraordinary scientific, technology and managerial leadership” between 1972 and 1984 to decisively shape the “ISRO that we know today”.
(Edited by Tony Rai)
Also Read: ‘Major achievement for humankind,’ says President Murmu as India leaps to moon’s south pole