Bengaluru : Two pilots of IAF's aerobatics team 'Surya Kiran', who were injured in the collision between two aircraft during rehearsal were recovering and out of danger, the Indian Air Force said Wednesday.

Ahead of the Aero India show Tuesday, the two Hawk aeroplanes collided mid air and crashed, killing Wg Cdr Sahil Gandhi and injuring Wg Cdr V T Shelke and Sqn Ldr T J Singh.

The two injured had successfully ejected from the plane, but sustained grievous injuries. "They are stable. They are recovering from their injuries," an IAF officer told PTI.

To a question on whether they were out of danger, he said, "Yes".

The incident cast a shadow on the biennial Aero India show, which began here Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Rajya Sabha member Rajeev Chandrasekhar felicitated Chethan Kumar B M and his friends who came to the rescue of the two injured crew members after the crash.

In his message, he said, "Even as we grieve the loss of air warrior Wing Commander Sahil Gandhi, I join all Indians, Bengalureans and Kannadigas in saluting Chethan Kumar B M and his friends for rushing in and helping our injured air warriors - Wing Commander Vijay Shelke and Squadron Leader Tejeshwar Singh.

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Bengaluru (PTI): Two former BJP MLAs Malikayya Guttedar and Sharada Mohan Shetty on Friday joined the Congress, ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.

Guttedar is a six-time MLA from Afzalpur in Kalaburagi district and a former Minister.

Kalaburagi is the home district of Congress President M Mallikarjun Kharge, who successfully contested the 2009 and 2014 Lok Sabha elections from there but lost in the 2019 polls.

Kharge's son-in-law Radhakrishna Doddamani is contesting from Kalaburagi (Gulbarga) in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

Guttedar was supposedly upset with the induction of his brother Nithin Venkaiah Guttedar into the BJP earlier this month.

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M Y Patil from Congress had won Afzalpur seat in the 2023 Assembly election, in which Malikayya Guttedar had finished third behind Nithin, who contested as an independent.

Malikayya, who was previously with the Congress and had joined the BJP later, had been criticising BJP veteran and former Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa and his son B Y Vijayendra the state BJP president, after his brother's move to the party.

According to sources, Karnataka Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Minister and Kharge's son, Priyank Kharge, played a crucial role in bringing him back to the Congress fold.

Sharada Mohan Shetty was a Congress MLA from Kumta in Uttara Kannada district from 2013 to 2018. She had switched over to the BJP after being denied a ticket in the 2018 Assembly elections.

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, his deputy D K Shivakumar, who is the State Congress chief, and Priyank Kharge welcomed the two leaders and their supporters into the party fold.

Siddaramaiah said he knew that Malikayya Guttedar would not remain in the BJP for long because he is 'pro-social justice'.

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