New Delhi (PTI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi has written to NASA astronaut Sunita Williams, who is scheduled to return to Earth early on Wednesday after a nine-month stay at the International Space Station, and invited her to visit India.

The letter, written on March 1 and sent through former NASA astronaut Mike Massimino, was shared on X by Union Science and Technology Minister Jitendra Singh.

"Even though you are thousands of miles away, you continue to remain close to our hearts. The people of India are praying for your good health and success in your mission," Modi said in the letter.

"After your return, we are looking forward to seeing you in India. It will be a pleasure for India to host one of its most illustrious daughters," the prime minister said.

Modi recalled meeting Williams and her late father Deepak Pandya during his 2016 visit to the US.

He said he had met Massimino at a programme in New Delhi and Williams' name came up during the conversation.

"During the course of our conversation, your name came up and we discussed how proud we are of you and your work. Following this interaction, I could not stop myself from writing to you," he said.

The prime minister said he enquired about Williams' wellbeing while meeting President Donald Trump and his predecessor Joe Biden during his visits to the US.

He said 1.4 billion Indians had always taken great pride in Williams achievements. "Recent developments have yet again showcased your inspirational fortitude and perseverance."

Modi said Williams' mother Bonnie Pandya must be keenly awaiting her return and he was sure that "Deepakbhai's" blessings were with her as well.

The prime minister also sent his warm regards to Williams' husband Michael Williams.

New Delhi (PTI): The BJP on Friday dared Congress leaders facing corruption charges to seek a quick and time-bound disposal of cases, as it slammed the party for citing politics as the reason for the ED's action against Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi in the National Herald case.

The ruling BJP kept the heat on the opposition party following the ED's chargesheet against the Gandhis and accused chief ministers from the Congress-ruled states of ploughing public money as advertisement into the weekly newspaper which few read.

Former Union minister Anurag Thakur alleged that the Congress used the newspaper as its ATM, claiming that Gandhis sought to acquire properties worth Rs 2,000 crores of the National Herald without investing a penny from their pocket.

Both Gandhis together owned 76 per cent of the Young Indian company which was, he said, given Rs 50 lakh loan by the Congress.

The company then took over the Associated Journals Limited, which owns the newspaper affiliated to the Congress, in lieu of Rs 90 crore it owed to the opposition party, he said.

Thakur asked if a political party can give a loan.

To a question about the allegation that the ED action was politically motivated, the BJP leader dared Congress leaders facing corruption charges to move courts to seek quick and time-bound trial in the cases against them.

"If they have guts, they should do it," he said, adding that in the "Congress model of corruption" the thieves make a lot of noises.

The National Herald case, he said, has stunned the Congress ecosystem into silence.

Thakur noted Gandhis have moved courts for quashing action against them for many times since a lower court took cognizance of the matter before the Modi government came to power.

The courts gave them no relief except that they are on bail, he said, adding that the judiciary did not intervene in the Enforcement Directorate's probe.

Turning to his home state Himachal Pradesh where the Congress is in power, Thakur accused the party of not fulfilling any of its 10 main promises but spending crores of rupees in advertisement in the National Herald.

"Does any Congress leader or member read it in Himachal," he asked, demanding that people should be given details of money spent by different Congress governments in advertisements in the newspaper, which is available digitally.

The Congress has been organising protests in different parts of the country against the ED action.