Father-daughter duo creates history by flying Hawk sortie together in Karnataka
Bidar, Jul 5: A father-daughter duo has created history in the Indian Air Force (IAF), when they flew in the same formation here recently, IAF said on Tuesday.
There has not been any previous instance in the IAF where a father and his daughter were part of the same formation for a mission, an official release said.
Air Commodore Sanjay Sharma and his daughter Ananya flew in the same formation recently.
"The father-daughter duo created history on 30 May 2022, when they flew in the same formation of Hawk-132 aircraft at Air Force Station Bidar, where Flying Officer Ananya Sharma is undergoing her training before she graduates onto faster and more superior fighter aircraft of the IAF," the release said.
"There has not been any previous instance in the IAF where a father and his daughter were part of the same fighter formation for a mission," it added.
It was the mission where the two were more than just father and daughter. "They were comrades, who had full faith in each other as fellow wingmen would," the release stated.
Air Commodore Sanjay Sharma was commissioned in the fighter stream of the IAF in 1989. He has had extensive experience of fighter operations, having commanded a Mig-21 squadron as well as a frontline fighter station.
Having completed her B Tech in Electronics and Communication, Ananya was selected for training for the flying branch of IAF. She was commissioned as a fighter pilot in December 2021, the release said.
There has not been any previous instance in @IAF_MCC where #fatherdaughter hv been part of same #Fighter formation in a #mission
— PRO Defence Gujarat (@DefencePRO_Guj) July 5, 2022
Air Cmde Sanjay & Fg Offr Ananya were more than just father & daughter....they were comrades who had full faith in each other as fellow wingmen would pic.twitter.com/kUUzIZzbxO
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K'taka bypolls: Bagalkot records 43.75 per cent turnout till 1 pm, 37.17 pc in Davanagere South
Bengaluru (PTI): At least 43.75 per cent of voters in Karnataka's Bagalkot, where polling for a by-election is underway, exercised their franchise by 1 pm on Thursday.
Davanagere South recorded a turnout of 37.17 per cent, the Chief Electoral Officer's (CEO) office said.
The bypolls were necessitated due to the demise of senior Congress MLAs H Y Meti (Bagalkot) and Shamanur Shivashankarappa (Davanagere South).
While the ruling Congress faces the challenge of retaining both seats, the BJP is aiming to wrest them and deliver a setback to its rival, which is currently witnessing an "internal power struggle" over leadership.
A total of over 2.59 lakh eligible voters are expected to cast their votes at around 319 polling stations in Bagalkot, where nine candidates are in the fray.
In Davanagere South, over 2.31 lakh eligible voters are expected to vote across 284 polling stations, with 25 candidates contesting.
The BJP has fielded former MLA and 2023 defeated candidate Veerabhadrayya Charantimath from Bagalkot, and a fresh face, Srinivas T Dasakariyappa, from Davanagere South.
The Congress has given tickets to family members of the late legislators in both constituencies. Bagalkot candidate Umesh Meti is the son of H Y Meti, while Samarth Mallikarjun from Davanagere South is the grandson of Shamanur Shivashankarappa.
Samarth's father, S S Mallikarjun, is a minister in the Siddaramaiah-led Cabinet and in charge of Davanagere district, while his mother, Prabha Mallikarjun, is a Member of Parliament from the region.
The BJP is looking to make gains in the bypolls and energise its cadre ahead of the 2028 Assembly elections. For the Congress, retaining both seats is crucial, as a loss could be seen as a negative verdict on the performance of the Siddaramaiah-led government.
In the 2023 Assembly elections, H Y Meti defeated BJP's Charantimath by a margin of 5,878 votes in Bagalkot, while Shivashankarappa defeated BJP's B G Ajay Kumar by 27,888 votes in Davanagere South.
