PM to visit Bengaluru on Aug 26 to congratulate ISRO team on successful Chandrayaan-3 mission
Bengaluru, Aug 24: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be in Bengaluru on August 26, to greet the ISRO scientists and officials for the successful landing of Candrayaan-3's lander and deployment of rover on moon's surface.
The Karnataka BJP is planning a grand welcome for the Prime Minister by organising a mega road show in the city on his arrival, senior BJP leader and former Minister R Ashoka said on Thursday.
"PM Narendra Modi is coming on August 26. We will be receiving him in big numbers with more than 6,000 people at HAL airport. There, he might address the people of Bengaluru. Our (BJP) national leader Santosh ji (General Sec B L Santosh) just spoke to me to organise a mega roadshow in Peenya, I have spoken to Dasarahalli MLA Muniraju on this," he said.
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Speaking to reporters here, Ashoka said the Prime Minister has given the opportunity to the people of Bengaluru to share this joy with him.
"We the people of Bengaluru will give Modi a grand welcome, because ISRO means Benagluru and Bengaluru means ISRO. He is coming here to congratulate ISRO scientists," he added.
Though the details of PM's visit have not been shared, he is likely to visit the Missions Operations Complex at Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC) here to congratulate the scientists and officials of the space agency.
PM Modi on Wednesday congratulated ISRO Chairman S Somanath on the success of the Chandrayaan-3 mission and said he would soon visit them in Bengaluru to greet the entire team in person. He had a phone conversation with Somanath from Johannesburg, where he is attending the BRICS summit.
Before the phone conversation, he had virtually witnessed the landing and addressed ISRO scientists from Johannesburg.
Noting that the plan was to organise a roadshow of about 1 km near Peenya, Ashoka said at the airport too there will be a gathering of people to welcome the PM.
A meeting has been convened at the party office to discuss and finalise things, he added.
India on Wednesday scripted history as ISRO's ambitious third Moon mission Chandrayaan-3's Lander Module (LM) touched down on the lunar surface, making it only the fourth country to accomplish the feat, and first to reach the uncharted south pole of Earth's only natural satellite.
The LM comprising the lander (Vikram) and the rover (Pragyan), made the soft landing near the south polar region of the Moon last evening.
Earlier today, ISRO announced that the rover rolled down from the lander, stating "India took a walk on the moon."
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Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah accuses EC of ‘bias’, defends state guarantee schemes ahead of bypolls
Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has accused the EC of "double standards" and "bias" after it sought details on the state’s guarantee schemes in Davanagere and Bagalkot districts, where bypolls are scheduled for Thursday.
In a post on 'X' on Wednesday, Siddaramaiah said the Election Commission of India had asked the Karnataka government for information on fund releases under five ongoing guarantee schemes in the constituencies going to polls.
The polls were necessitated following the deaths of senior Congress MLAs Shamanur Shivashankarappa and H Y Meti, respectively.
The schemes are Gruha Jyothi, which provides 200 units of free electricity to every household; Gruha Lakshmi, offering Rs 2,000 to women heading families; and Anna Bhagya, supplying 10 kg of rice per month to each member of BPL families.
In addition, Yuva Nidhi grants Rs 3,000 to unemployed graduates and Rs 1,500 to unemployed diploma holders aged 18–25 for two years, while Shakti enables women to travel free of charge within Karnataka on government non-luxury buses.
Siddaramaiah alleged that the ECI had remained silent when similar cash transfer schemes were announced in Maharashtra and Bihar ahead of elections, calling the scrutiny of Karnataka’s schemes a "clear case of bias".
"In states like Maharashtra and Bihar, cash transfer schemes were announced or fast-tracked just before elections, directly benefiting voters. Yet the ECI remained silent. This is not neutrality—it is complicity," he said.
The CM accused the BJP and NDA governments of "a double standard", noting that when they act, the ECI "looks the other way", but when Karnataka fulfils its promises, it faces "intense scrutiny".
He added that targeting the state’s guarantee schemes is "not just political but anti-poor, anti-women, and anti-Karnataka."
Siddaramaiah clarified that these schemes were not launched in connection with the bypolls but are ongoing programmes implemented as part of the Congress government’s commitments from the 2023 Assembly elections.
Funds are transferred regularly to beneficiaries in a transparent and structured manner, he added.
"The guarantees are part of governance—a direct investment in human dignity, household stability, and economic participation, not inducement," he said.
He also accused the BJP of "hypocrisy", saying that while it criticises Karnataka’s schemes as "freebies", it rolls out similar programmes in states it governs.
"The Karnataka model has set a benchmark for the country. What is deeply concerning, however, is the ECI’s selective approach," Siddaramaiah added.
