Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s announcement on Mission Shakti could have been made by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), said Former Chief Election Commissioner S Y Quraishi.
Mr Quraishi said that in his experience, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) would ask the Election Commission (EC) for permission before making important announcements.
While addressing queries by reporters at the end of a panel discussion at India International Centre, he said that normally PMO would ask EC’s permission to make any important announcement and this (Mission Shakti) announcement could have easily been done by DRDO.
However, Former Secretary IT, Government of India, Kamal Jaswal said, “There have been many instances where the PM’s request has been turned down by the Election Commission.”
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday announced that India had joined an elite club of space powers through “Mission Shakti”. India’s anti-satellite weapon A-SAT successfully destroyed a satellite on a low earth orbit, joining a group of three countries – the US, Russia and China – with such capability.
Shortly after PM Modi’s televised address announcing the success of “Mission Shakti”, some social media user saw it as a desperate effort by Modi to take credits. PM Modi was also accused by the opposition of taking credits of the Mission.