‘Could’ve Sent Dalit Or OBC…’: Udit Raj Sees Casteism In Shubhanshu Shukla’s Space Mission Pick

Last Updated:July 15, 2025, 13:59 IST

Udit Raj questioned the choice of Shubhanshu Shukla for the Axiom 4 mission, suggesting a Dalit should have been sent.

It has been a historic trip for Shukla, who became the first Indian to travel to the ISS. (Photos: ANI + Axiom Space)

Udit Raj, Congress leader and former Lok Sabha MP, on Tuesday questioned the choice of Shubhanshu Shukla for the Axiom 4 mission. 

Raj, who represented North West Delhi between 2014 and 2019 in Lok Sabha, said India should have sent a Dalit to space. 

 “When Rakesh Sharma was sent earlier, the SC, ST, OBC people were not that educated. This time, I think it was the turn to send a Dalit… It is not that NASA conducted an exam, and then there was a selection. Any Dalit or OBC could have been sent in place of Shukla ji," he said.

Indian astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla and three others from the Axiom-4 mission are set to return to Earth on Tuesday, landing in the ocean near San Diego after a 22.5-hour journey from the Space Station, where they spent 18 days.

The Dragon ‘Grace’ spacecraft carrying Shukla, commander Peggy Whitson, and mission specialists Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski of Poland and Tibor Kapu of Hungary, undocked from the space station at 4:45 pm IST on Monday.

“Dragon and the @Axiom_Space Ax-4 crew are on track to reenter Earth’s atmosphere and splash down off the coast of San Diego at ~2:31 am PT tomorrow (3:01 pm IST, Tuesday)," SpaceX, the transporter for the Axiom-4 mission, said in a post on X.

It said the spacecraft will also announce its arrival with a brief sonic boom prior to splashing down in the Pacific Ocean.

The de-orbit burn is expected to take place at 2:07 pm IST over the Pacific Ocean as the spacecraft re-enters the Earth’s atmosphere.

Final preparations include detaching the capsule’s trunk (at 2:26 pm IST) and orienting the heat shield ahead of atmospheric entry, which will expose the spacecraft to temperatures nearing 1,600 degrees Celsius.

It has been a historic trip for Shukla, who became the first Indian to travel to the ISS and only the second to travel to space after Sharma’s pathbreaking spaceflight as part of the then Soviet Union’s mission to Salyut-7 space station in 1984.

ISRO paid approximately Rs 550 crore for Shukla’s travel to the ISS, an experience that will help the space agency in the planning and execution of its human spaceflight programme, Gaganyaan, set to take to orbit in 2027.

News politics ‘Could’ve Sent Dalit Or OBC…’: Udit Raj Sees Casteism In Shubhanshu Shukla’s Space Mission Pick