Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Mahua Moitra has said BJP will try to garner political mileage out of the country’s successful Chandrayaan-3 lunar mission.
She said Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Prime Minister Narendra Modi will use Chandrayaan-3's successful soft landing on the Moon's south pole for their political gains.
TMC MP Moitra said that BJP will make ISRO their campaign tool for the upcoming 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
Mahua Moitra's remark comes days after India scripted history as its third unmanned Moon mission's Lander Module made a flawless soft-landing, making it only the fourth country to achieve this feat.
India is the first country to reach the uncharted south pole of Earth's only natural satellite.
She took to microblogging site X (formerly Twitter) and said, “Every mission will be used to whip up nationalistic frenzy before elections. Bhakt & troll army working 24-7 to package decades of Indian scientific research as Modi Hai Toh Mumkin Hai magic.”
“Wake up, India. And no, I am not anti-national,” she added.
Moita’s comment came after Prime Minister Narendra Modi flew down to Bengaluru directly from the Greek capital of Athens to interact with ISRO scientists on the successful Chandrayaan-3 mission and announced the decision to name the place where lander 'Vikram' touched down on the lunar surface as "Shiva Shakti Point".
Meanwhile, West Bengal TMC Minister Aroop Biswas also cited media reports to claim that ISRO scientists, who have made the nation proud with the successful Moon mission, are not getting salaries regularly for the last 17 months.
The comment drew a sharp retort from the opposition BJP which dubbed it a "cheap political stunt."
Recently, the Congress and the BJP had also engaged in a credit war over the advancements in the country's space technology during their respective tenures, almost shaping poll pitches for the 2024 polls.
