PM to visit Bengaluru on Aug 26 to congratulate ISRO team on successful Chandrayaan-3 mission

BENGALURU: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be in Bengaluru on August 26, to greet the ISRO scientists and officials for the successful landing of Candrayaan-3’s lander and deployment of rover on moon’s surface.

The Karnataka BJP is planning a grand welcome for the Prime Minister by organising a mega road show in the city on his arrival, senior BJP leader and former Minister R Ashoka said on Thursday.

“PM Narendra Modi is coming on August 26. We will be receiving him in big numbers with more than 6,000 people at HAL airport. There, he might address the people of Bengaluru. Our (BJP) national leader Santosh (General Sec B L Santosh) just spoke to me to organise a mega roadshow in Peenya, I have spoken to Dasarahalli MLA Muniraju on this,” he said.

Speaking to reporters here, Ashoka said the Prime Minister has given the opportunity to the people of Bengaluru to share this joy with him.

“We the people of Bengaluru will give Modi a grand welcome, because ISRO means Benagluru and Bengaluru means ISRO. He is coming here to congratulate ISRO scientists,” he added.

Though the details of PM’s visit have not been shared, he is likely to visit the Missions Operations Complex at Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC) here to congratulate the scientists and officials of the space agency.

PM Modi on Wednesday congratulated ISRO Chairman S Somanath on the success of the Chandrayaan-3 mission and said he would soon visit them in Bengaluru to greet the entire team in person. He had a phone conversation with Somanath from Johannesburg, where he is attending the BRICS summit.

Before the phone conversation, he had virtually witnessed the landing and addressed ISRO scientists from Johannesburg.

Noting that the plan was to organise a roadshow of about 1 km near Peenya, Ashoka said at the airport too there will be a gathering of people to welcome the PM.

A meeting has been convened at the party office to discuss and finalise things, he added.

India on Wednesday scripted history as ISRO’s ambitious third Moon mission Chandrayaan-3’s Lander Module (LM) touched down on the lunar surface, making it only the fourth country to accomplish the feat, and first to reach the uncharted south pole of Earth’s only natural satellite.

The LM comprising the lander (Vikram) and the rover (Pragyan), made the soft landing near the south polar region of the Moon last evening.

Earlier today, ISRO announced that the rover rolled down from the lander, stating “India took a walk on the moon.” (PTI)