Amid the raging controversy over the naming of Chandrayaan 3’s landing site as Shiv Shakti point, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Chairman S Somanath on Sunday said that being the head of state, it was Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s prerogative to name the Vikram lander module’s touchdown spot on the Moon. The ISRO chief also dismissed any controversy surrounding the Shiv Shakti Point after Congress leader Rashid Alvi accused PM Modi of politicising the achievement of the country’s scientists.

“Prime Minister Narendra Modi narrated the meaning of it in a manner that suits all of us. I think there is nothing wrong with that. And also, he gave the next name to Tiranga and both are Indian-sounding names… And he has a prerogative of naming it being the Prime Minister of the country,” Somanath said.

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi Saturday named the spot where Chandrayaan 3’s lander Vikram landed on the Moon as Shiv Shakti Point. He also gave the name Tiranga to the spot where Chandrayaan 2’s lander crashed. In a meeting with ISRO scientists in Bengaluru, the prime minister declared August 23 as National Space Day.

What is the controversy over ‘Shiv Shakti Point’

However, Congress leader Rashid Alvi took offence with the naming of Vikram’s touchdown spot as Shiv Shakti Point and said, “The entire world will laugh…We have landed, it is very good. We are proud of it, no doubt about it. But we are not the owner of the moon or the point,” Alvi said during an interview with India Today when about ‘Jawahar Point’, the spot where Chandrayaan 1 crashed.

Reacting to the objections, the ISRO chief said India has every right to name the landing site and that it was not the first time it happened.

“Several Indian names are already there on the moon. We have a Sarabhai crater on the moon. Other countries have also named places related to their scientific accomplishment. All places related to even minor experiments would be named. That is a tradition,” he added.

In a historic first, India on August 23 landed its Chandrayaan 3 lander module on the south pole region of the Moon. With the successful landing on the lunar surface, India became just the fourth country in the world to achieve the feat after the USA, the former Soviet Union, and China.