Former Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy has landed in controversy for suggesting that Prime Minister Modi brought 'bad luck' to the scientists of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) when he arrived in Bengaluru to witness the scheduled soft landing of Chandrayaan-2's moon lander Vikram.
"He came here (Bengaluru) to advertise that he is responsible for the success of Chandrayaan. Once he set foot in ISRO centre, I don't know if it turned into bad luck for scientists," said HD Kumaraswamy, speaking in Mysuru.
On September 7, when the Vikram Lander was scheduled to make a soft landing on the moon, Prime Minister Modi was present at the ISRO Tracking Center in Bengaluru.
Kumaraswamy said, "Scientists have toiled for 10-12 years. It (the moon mission) was approved by the cabinet in 2008-09 and funds were released the same year. Modi came here to claim that he was behind the launch of Chandrayaan-2," he said.
He further added, "Chief Minister (Yediyurappa), a Deputy Chief Minister and 2-3 Union Ministers accompanied him but he asked them to leave the place, telling them there was no need to be there. This is the condition of the government serving our people.”
Minutes before the soft landing of the Vikram Lander on the lunar surface, it lost communication with the ISRO ground station on earth. While ISRO chief had on September 7 said the lander was 2.1 km from the moon’s surface, reports emerged that the lander may have gotten as close as 400m when it lost communication with the station.
The Chandrayaan-2 orbiter, meanwhile, continues to circle the moon and study its surface. The orbiter has captured the location of the Vikram lander on the moon’s surface and has sent home pictures, ISRO has said.