Samajwadi Party leader and Rajya Sabha MP Ram Gopal Yadav made a bizarre demand from the scientists of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on September 20. Ram Gopal Yadav stated that they should keep the unflattering pictures of the moon for their research and should not release them to the public because it will hurt the hearts of those who view the natural satellite of Earth as a symbol of beauty.
Yadav conveyed his unusual concern while participating in the discussion on the topic of ‘India’s glorious space journey Chandrayaan-3‘s successful soft landing’. The Samajwadi MP said, “We will request our scientists to keep the unattractive photos of the Moon for study instead of showing them to the public.”
The MP further added, “Female names are Shashi Prabha or Chand Prabha, whereas male names have the Moon in them such as Subhash Chand, Manik Chand etc. The Moon’s inclusion in the names of both men and women is due to its beauty.”
Earlier, Vice President and Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar introduced the politician as Ram Gopal Verma rather than Ram Gopal Yadav leading to laughter in the house.
Notably, this isn’t the first time that a bizarre statement from an Indian politician regarding India’s milestone moon mission has come to the fore. West Bengal Chief Minister had earlier said, “I remember, when Rakesh Roshan landed on the Moon, Indira Gandhi asked him how India looked from there,” in a clip that went viral on social media.
After confusing director Rakesh Roshan with astronaut Rakesh Sharma, she made another gaffe a few days later and said that former Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had visited the moon. “When Indira reached on the moon, she asked Rakesh how does India look from the moon,” she declared at the Trinamool Congress (TMC) Youth wing rally.
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) successfully demonstrated the capability of soft-landing on the surface of the moon at approximately 6:04 PM IST on 23 August and etched itself and the country’s name in history. The moment Vikram Lander touched the lunar south pole, India became the first nation to achieve this momentous feat. Overall, India joined the United States, China, and the erstwhile Soviet Union (Russia) as the only other space powers to successfully complete a soft landing on the moon.
