Indira Gandhi with N T Rama Rao at Sriharikota, after the successful launch of the SLV-3-D2 on April 17 1983.
Credit: The Leapfroggers: An Insider's Account of ISRO/Ved Prakash Sandlas
Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Tuesday recalled that then prime minister Indira Gandhi had invited N T Rama Rao to be present at Sriharikota after the successful launch of the SLV-3-D2 in 1983, despite them being bitter political rivals.
The remarks come in the backdrop of the row after the Congress alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi purportedly barred Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister Shivakumar from receiving him at the HAL Airport during his visit over the weekend.
Modi had said on Saturday he had requested the Karnataka Governor, chief minister and deputy chief minister not to come to the airport to receive him as he did not want them to take the trouble of coming early in the morning as he was not sure of his arrival time after a long flight.
The prime minister flew down to Bengaluru around 6 AM Saturday directly from the Greek capital of Athens to interact with ISRO scientists involved in the Chandrayaan-3 mission to the Moon.
In a post on X without referring to the incident, Ramesh said,'They were bitter political rivals, but Indira Gandhi invited N.T. Rama Rao to be present at Sriharikota after the successful launch of the SLV-3-D2 on April 17 1983. This is from Ved Prakash Sandlas' 2018 classic, 'The Leapfroggers'.' The SLV-3 carried on board the Rohini Satellite RS-D2.
A war of words had also erupted between BJP MLA and former minister R Ashoka and Shivakumar over 'ignoring' of protocol to receive the prime minister at the airport.