'Meet Rakesh Roshan, the first Indian to go to space': Mamata Banerjee's Chandrayaan gaffe starts meme fest on Twitter

After a Rajasthan minister's video congratulating Chandrayaan-3's passenger went viral, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee's faux-pa on India's moon mission has created a meme storm on social media.

The meme fest on X (formerly Twitter) started after Banerjee mixed up the name of Rakesh Sharma, the first Indian to go to space, with Rakesh Roshan. "I remember when they reached the moon, Indira Gandhi asked Rakesh Roshan how India looked from there, for space," Banerjee said.

Banerjee was actually referring to the conversation of former prime minister Indira Gandhi with Rakesh Sharma.


Rakesh Sharma, who is still the only Indian citizen to travel in space, travelled aboard the Soviet rocket Soyuz T-11 to Salyut 7 Orbital Station along with a Soviet crew in 1984. The crew then had a conference with Soviet officials and the then-Indian PM Indira Gandhi from space. When Gandhi asked Sharma how India looked from outer space, he replied, "Sare Jahan Se Accha" (the best in the world).

Meanwhile, netizens quickly latched on the perhaps 'slip of tongue' of Mamata Banerjee.

Commenting on the faux-pa, Keya Ghosh, BJP's West Bengal spokesperson, quipped: Rakesh Roshan becomes the first actor-director to venture out into space..... Courtesy Mamata Banerjee. Sorry Rakesh Sharma."


Here are some hillarious memes:







Earlier, Rajasthan Sports Minister Ashok Chandna made a massive gaffe while expressing his happiness over India's historic Chandrayaan-3's successful lunar landing and congratulating the non-existent passengers of the spacecraft.

He said, "We were successful and made a safe landing. I salute all our passengers who have been sent in Chandrayaan."

The Chandrayaan-3 lander touched down on the lunar south pole at 6.04 p.m. on August 23, propelling India to an exclusive club of four countries with successful moon missions. Most importantly, India became the first country to land on the uncharted surface and also the first country to do a soft landing on the moon.