Mamata Banerjee's 'Rakesh Roshan' gaffe while celebrating Chandrayaan-3. Viral video

In a curious mix of lunar lore and political missteps, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee inadvertently stirred up a storm and chuckle with her recent faux pas. At an event following the triumphant soft landing of ISRO's Chandrayaan 3 on the moon's south pole, the Trinamool Congress chief blurted out the wrong name on stage: "I remember when they reached the moon, Indira Gandhi asked Rakesh Roshan how India looked from there, for space," she said in Bengali.

The 68-year-old Opposition leader meant Rakesh Sharma, the first Indian in space but said Roshan instead – the actor and director of several Bollywood movies and Hrithik Roshan’s father. Banerjee didn't even seem to realise her gaffe and moved on speaking about Chandrayaan 3 thereafter.

She also said "whey they reached the moon" in another gaffe at the beginning of her comments that only went downhill. No Indians have landed on the moon so far; Sharma was the first to go to space.

Rakesh Sharma had famously replied to former prime minister Indira Gandhi's query about how India appeared from space with the patriotic words, "Saare jaahan se achcha." It was not Rakesh Roshan – whose only relation to space may be his movie “Koi… Mil Gaya”, where he played a scientist communicating with aliens.
The video clip of Banerjee's statement quickly went viral, drawing both incredulity and amusement. She drew sharp criticism from BJP supporters and her slip-up was not forgiven easily. Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar, an influential figure in the INDIA alliance where Banerjee is a key leader, found himself in a similar predicament.

When asked about Chandrayaan 3's progress before its successful soft landing, Kumar's befuddlement led him to direct the question back to the accompanying minister who seemed to explain to the CM what the query was.