Kolkata (West Bengal) [India], March 19 (ANI): West Bengal Leader of Opposition and BJP MLA Suvendu Adhikari on Wednesday lashed out at Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, calling her 'illiterate' and accusing her of insulting the country's daughter, Sunita Williams.

Adhikari's outburst came after Banerjee allegedly referred to the Indian-American astronaut as 'Sunita Chawla' instead of Sunita Williams.

Adhikari also mentioned a past incident in which Banerjee supposedly claimed that Rakesh Roshan and Indira Gandhi went to the moon. He termed this 'shameful' and criticized Banerjee for changing Williams' name.

'The CM is saying the wrong things. She is an illiterate Chief Minister. She took the name of Sunita Chawla instead of Sunita Williams. This is an insult to the daughter of our country. Earlier, the CM said Rakesh Roshan and Indira Gandhi went to the moon. It is shameful that the West Bengal CM changed the name of Sunita Williams,' said Adhikari.

LoP Suvendu Adhikari, along with BJP MLAs, staged a protest outside the Assembly Gate against State Legislative Assembly Speaker Biman Banerjee, alleging him of working against the Constitution.

He alleged that the TMC goons and police in plain clothes obstructed his way when he was going to enter the assembly. 'We are elected representatives, but we are unsafe,' he added.

Earlier NASA Crew-9 astronauts Sunita Williams, Nick Hague, Butch Wilmore, and Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov breathed Earth's air for the first time in over nine months on Wednesday after the successful splashdown of SpaceX's Dragon capsule in the Gulf of America off the coast of Florida.

CNN reported that the astronauts disembarked the capsule on stretchers, as is customary. SpaceX takes this precaution for all astronauts returning from long-duration space missions.

NASA astronauts Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov have been in space since September 2024. However, Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams had been away much longer--their journey began last June.

Initially expected to last just a week, their mission was extended to more than nine months due to issues with their Boeing Starliner capsule, which delayed their return. (ANI)