Bengaluru, Sep 7: After a pep talk to scientists, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday gave a long and tight hug to an emotional ISRO chief K Sivan, who was in tears, unable to come to termsover lander Vikram's unsuccessful bid to soft-land on the moon.

Modi, in his address at the ISRO centre here, asked the scientists not to get disheartened by the hurdles in the lunar mission Chandrayaan-2 and asserted that there will be a "new dawn".

No sooner than the Prime Minister concluded his address, Sivan accompanied him to see him off.

At this juncture, the Prime Minister, who was on his way to get into his car, gave him a "reassuring" and tight hug, lending his shoulder to teary-eyed Sivan.

The Prime Minister embraced Sivan as he made no secret of his deep disappointment as the ambitious venture did not pan out as intended.

Modi also said in his address that the country's determination to land on the moon has become even stronger.

"We came very close, but we need to cover more ground....

Learnings from today will make us stronger and better," he told the scientists, adding, "The best is yet to come in our space programme. India is with you."

Earlier, Sivan, who his colleagues say is a task-master but a simple and genial individual, announced -- his voice choking -- that the lander had lost communication with the ground stations, and the data is being analysed.

The Prime Minister was present at the ISRO centre to witness the touch-down early Saturday and returned less than six hours later to address scientists and the nation at 8 am.

The soft landing of lander Vikram did not go according to ISRO's plan as it lost contact with the ground station.

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Bengaluru (PTI): BJP leader R Ashoka on Friday claimed that the ongoing power struggle between Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and his deputy D K Shivakumar has created massive confusion in Karnataka.

He remarked that the proverb “when two people fight, the third one benefits” has come true, as AICC President Mallikarjun Kharge is also now making efforts to become Chief Minister.

Speaking to reporters here, Ashoka said the entire government has turned into a house of confusion due to the alleged power tussle.

Kharge’s new statement has only added to the chaos, he said.

Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge had on Friday said that no date has been fixed yet to discuss possible leadership change in Karnataka.

This came a day after Kharge said there was no change of CM in Karnataka "for now" and that the leadership issue in the state would be resolved soon.

The BJP leader said that Kharge too has aspirations and that he was cheated earlier.

"Perhaps he has received a green signal from the Congress high command to become CM. Everyone is already saying Kharge should become CM. Kharge himself has declared, “I am ready to become CM.” Despite many attempts in the past, he never became CM. Now he is trying to seize the opportunity," the Leader of Opposition in the state assembly said.

According to him, the situation in Congress has perfectly become a case of “two people fighting, third one benefits.”