'Requested Karnataka CM, Deputy CM not to take trouble to receive me': PM Modi amid protocol row

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday flew down to Bengaluru to congratulate the scientists from the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on the successful landing of Chandrayaan-3 mission on the Moon. However, as PM Modi arrived this morning, neither Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah nor Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar were at the airport to receive him.

According to Congress, PM Modi "purportedly barred" the chief minister from receiving him at the airport, in a major breach of protocol.

“He is apparently so irritated with the CM and Deputy CM of Karnataka for felicitating the scientists of ISRO before him, that he has purportedly barred the CM from receiving him at the airport, going against protocol. This is nothing but petulant petty politics,” Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh posted on X (previously Twitter).

“Has PM Modi forgotten CM Modi’s visit to the Space Applications Centre in Ahmedabad on Oct 22, 2008 just after the successful launch of the Chandrayaan-I at a time when Dr. Manmohan Singh was the Prime Minister?” the Congress leader added further.

PM Modi, however, later stated that he did not want to trouble the minister so early as he did not know when he would reach Bengaluru.

"As I did not know when I would reach Bengaluru, I requested the Chief Minister, Deputy Chief Minister and Governor not to take trouble so early (to receive me)," he said while addressing people outside HAL airport in Bengaluru on Saturday.

“I myself had told the Chief Minister and the Governor that they shouldn't come because I will be leaving after meeting with the scientists. I had myself asked them to refrain from fulfilling the protocol as I did not know when I would reach Bengaluru,” the PM said.

Meanwhile, Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister, while reacting to the controversy, said that he was ready to receive the Prime Minister but since he got official information from the Prime Minister's Office, he wanted to respect it.

"Either me or the chief minister was ready to go and receive him (the PM), whatever the time be. But since we got an official information from the Prime Minister's Office, we wanted to respect it and we didn't want to be part of any politics," Shivakumar stated.

August 23, the day the Chandrayaan-3 lander touched down on the lunar surface, would be celebrated as "National Space Day", said the Prime Minister, who turned emotional while addressing the team ISRO at ISRO Telemetry Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC) in Bengaluru on Saturday.

On Wednesday evening as the Lander Module of Chandrayaan-3 mission successfully touched down on the lunar surface, Modi had joined the ISRO team at Mission Operations Complex (MOX) at ISTRAC virtually from Johannesburg, where he was attending the 15th BRICS summit.