 "Chandrayaan-3: Mamata Banerjee's Rakesh Roshan gaffe goes viral, BJP reacts")
Soon after Chandrayaan-3's successful landing on the Moon, netizens had a ball when they found out that once upon a time, "Bollywood actor Rakesh Roshan also landed on the lunar surface".
The "revelation" was made by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, igniting a meme fest on the microblogging site 'X' (formerly Twitter).
"I remember when they reached the moon, Indira Gandhi asked Rakesh Roshan how India looked from there, for space," the chief minister said.
Banerjee was referring to the conversation Rakesh Sharma, the first Indian to go to space, had with then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.
During a conversation with the astronaut, the late PM had asked him, "Upar se Bharat kaisa dikhta hai aapko (How does India look like from space?)." To which, he replied, "Saare jahan se accha."
Banerjee appears to have mixed up Rakesh Sharma with Rakesh Roshan. Also, another gaffe was that she said the astronaut reached the Moon. Sharma did not go to the Moon.
More From This Section
Netizens were quick to catch the slip-ups with some morphing images of Rakesh Roshan as an astronaut.
"Rakesh Roshan becomes the first actor-director to venture out into space," said BJP Bengal's media panelist.
Earlier on Wednesday, a Rajasthan minister also made a goof-up and congratulated passengers he suggested were taking part in the Chandrayaan-3 mission to the Moon.
Rajasthan sports minister Ashok Chandna made the slip hours before the touchdown by Chandrayaan's lander on the lunar surface.
"If we are successful and make a safe landing, I salute the passengers," he said, adding, "Our country has taken a step further in science and space research. I congratulate the countrymen for this."
Chandrayaan-3 made a successful soft-landing on the Moon Wednesday evening, making India only the fourth country to do so and the first to reach its uncharted south pole.
(With agency input)