Cong lauds ISRO for Chandrayaan-3 launch, terms it testimony to vision of all former PMs

New Delhi, Jul 14 (PTI) The Congress on Friday lauded ISRO for the successful launch of Chandrayaan-3 and said it was testimony to the vision, foresight, determination and accomplishments of all previous prime ministers, including Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

Party president Mallikarjun Kharge said the launch was a matter of great pride for all Indians as he paid tributes to countless scientists who devoted their lives for building a scientific temper among people.

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) launched its third lunar mission Chandrayaan-3 on board the heavy-lift LVM3-M4 rocket in Sriharikota here on Friday afternoon.

The LVM 3-M4 rocket has put Chandrayaan-3 into the precise orbit, ISRO chief Somanath said.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said, “Today, more than a billion of us look to the sky, beaming with pride.”

“Chandrayaan-3 is the fruit of decades of labour by the scientific community since the launch of India’s space programme in 1962, followed by the creation of ISRO in 1969.

“The success of this mission will make us only the fourth nation to land a spacecraft on the surface of the moon. A truly incredible feat! Congratulations to the entire team at ISRO,” Gandhi said in a tweet.

Taking to Twitter, Kharge said, “Our collective happiness is over the moon. Thanks to the tremendous ingenuity, dedication, skill and hard work of our scientists, engineers and everyone involved in the successful launch of the Chandrayaan-3 Mission.”

“We are extremely proud of each one of you for this remarkable achievement,” he said, adding, “We express our sincere gratitude to the extraordinary team at ISRO.”

The Congress chief said India’s lunar missions began with Chandrayaan-1 in 2008 which confirmed the presence of water molecules on the moon. “It was a historic feat by our country”.

Kharge said Chandrayaan-2 also detected the presence of chromium, manganese and sodium for the first time through remote sensing. The perseverance of our scientists did not go in vain, he noted.

“Today, Chandrayaan-3 is a testimony to the vision, foresight, determination and accomplishment of all our previous prime ministers, including Pandit Nehru ji, Lal Bahadur Shastri ji, Indira Gandhi ji, P V Narasimha Rao ji, Rajiv Gandhi ji, Atal Bihari Vajpayee ji and Manmohan Singh ji.”

“It is our sincere tribute to Dr Vikram Sarabhai and Dr Satish Dhawan and countless visionary scientists who devoted their lives to establish and inculcate scientific temper for human and social development for our people,” he tweeted.

Kharge ended his tweet with the words of Jawaharlal Nehru about the methods and approach of science revolutionising human life more than anything else in the course of history.

Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said, “The successful launch of Chandrayaan-3 is a thrilling occasion of great pride to all Indians.”

He also recalled the launch of Chandrayaan-1 on October 22, 2008, and of Chandrayaan-2 on July 22, 2019.

India’s space programme has a long history of self-reliance and support from the political leadership, the Congress leader said.

He said that Indian National Committee for Space Research (INCOSPAR) was set up in February 1962, “thanks to Homi Bhabha and Vikram Sarabhai. Sarabhai created ISRO in August 1969. It was his vision and later that of Satish Dhawan that gave India’s space programme a unique developmental purpose”.

“Between 1972 and 1984, Dhawan guided and mentored the ISRO community in every way. Each of his successors, beginning with U R Rao, has taken forward the Sarabhai-Dhawan legacy and has made distinctive contributions. We salute and applaud the entire ISRO family today,” Ramesh added.