Amidst protocol row Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday clariefied that he had asked the Karnataka Governor, Chief Minister, and Deputy Chief Minister not to come to the airport to greet him because he did not want them to go through the trouble of coming early in the morning because he was unsure of his arrival time after a long flight, news agency PTI reported. Modi flew directly from Athens to Bengaluru about 6 a.m. to meet with ISRO scientists working in the Chandrayaan-3 mission to the Moon.
Addressing a large crowd gathered outside the HAL airport, the PM stated that because he was flying from afar (Athens), he didn't know what time he would arrive, and he asked Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, and Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar not to bother coming to greet him because he would return soon after paying tributes to ISRO scientists.
"So, I had requested them that when I pay a formal visit, they definitely follow protocol", Modi was quoted by PTI in its report.
"They cooperated and I am thankful and grateful to them," he said.
Ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Bengaluru to meet ISRO scientists, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh claimed on Friday that he allegedly prevented Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar from greeting him at the HAL Airport.
Ramesh said that Modi was unhappy with Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar for honouring ISRO scientists before him, and described Modi's decision to exclude the Chief Minister and his deputy as "petulant petty politics." Siddaramaiah paid a visit to the Missions Operations Complex at ISTRAC on Thursday and congratulated ISRO chairman S Somanath and his team for the safe landing of the Chandrayaan-3 mission's lander on the Moon's surface.
"The government will officially honour them by organising a special programme at the Banquet hall at Vidhana Soudha. About 500 scientists from Karnataka were part of it. ISRO Chairman (S) Somanath and his team will be honoured," Siddaramaiah had said.
India made history on Wednesday as the Lander Module (LM) of ISRO's ambitious third Moon mission Chandrayaan-3 touched down on the lunar surface, becoming only the fourth country to do so and the first to reach the unknown south pole of Earth's only natural satellite.