Days after mixing up Rakesh Sharma and Rakesh Roshan, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, in a fresh gaffe, said on Monday that former prime minister Indira Gandhi ‘went to the Moon.’

“When Indira Gandhi reached the Moon, she asked Rakesh (Sharma) how does Hindustan (India) look from there. He replied ‘Sare jahaan se achcha’ (the best in the world),” India Today quoted Banerjee as saying.

The All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) supremo was addressing a rally on the occasion of the foundation day anniversary of the Trinamool Chhatra Parishad (TMCP), the party’s student wing.

Videos of the Bengal CM’s latest gaffe were widely shared on X, the social network previously known as Twitter.

Mamata Banerjee on Chandrayaan-3

Last week, while congratulating the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on the success of its ambitious Chandrayaan-3 mission, the veteran leader said India Gandhi asked ‘Rakesh Roshan’ how India looks from the Moon.

Except, it was Rakesh Sharma, then a pilot with the Indian Air Force (IAF), and not director-actor Rakesh Roshan, the father of actor Hrithik Roshan. Also, Sharma did not go to the Moon; he flew to the then-Soviet Union’s Salyut 7 Orbital Station in the low Earth orbit, participating in a Soviet space mission.

The Gandhi-Sharma conversation took place in April 1984. The latter, now 74, is also the only Indian national to go to space.

Chandrayaan-3

Banerjee’s aforementioned slip of tongue came on August 23, shortly after ISRO successfully soft-landed Chandrayaan-3’s lander module on the lunar surface, making India only the fourth country to achieve the Moon soft-landing. The United States, Russia and China are the others.

Also, the lander module touched down at the celestial body’s South Pole, its intended destination. India is, therefore, the only nation to reach the lunar South Pole.