Maharashtra BJP chief Raosaheb Danve's son and party MLA Santosh had a grand wedding on Thursday that has invited flak for its opulence. Here's what transpired at the Aurangabad marriage ceremony
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis at the wedding of BJP MLA Raosaheb Danve's son in Aurangabad. Pic/PTI
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The Bharatiya Janata Party’s Maharashtra chief Raosaheb Danve's son and BJP MLA Santosh had a grand wedding on Thursday that invited flak for its opulence.
Not only the wedding had sleek video invites, designer sets and a lavish ceremony monitored by police using drone-mounted camera but also the invitees list boasted of 30,000 guests.
BJP MLA Santosh Danve is an MLA from Bhokardan in the Marathwada region that has been in the grips of a drought for two years now.
Santosh wedded Renu, the daughter of well-known Marathi musician Rajesh Sarkate, at the Jabinda Estate lawns in Aurangabad and was attended by political bigwigs across parties in Maharashtra.
A team of art directors built a wedding set resembling a medieval-era palace. The food served included cuisines from all over India as well as Chinese dishes. According to a report in Times of India, Non-VIPs who attended the wedding were upset that the dinner fare was not standard for all. While they were served chapatis, puris, dal, rice and vegetables, the spread for the VVIPs included several Maharashtrian, south Indian, north Indian and Chinese dishes. The VVIPs were served five or six types of sweets.
The lavish wedding had who's who in state politics in attendance, including Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, former Chief Minister Narayan Rane, Leader of Opposition in Legislative Council Dhananjay Munde, several Union and Maharashtra ministers.
"We were all waiting for last two years when will Santosh get married," Fadnavis told the gathering from the wedding stage, which had a large palace like set.
Not only the wedding, the couple also had a pre-wedding video which was equally lavish. Watch video here
He wished the couple all the best and expressed hope that they serve the state. The gala wedding evoked flak from social activist Anjali Damania, who questioned the source of funds for the event.
"I am wondering from where does the money for such a lavish wedding come from," Damania said.
Last month a Bill in the Lok Sabha sought to put a limit on the number of guests to be invited and dishes to be served in weddings to check 'show of wealth' and wants those spending above Rs 5 lakh to contribute towards marriages of poor girls.
If a family spends above Rs 5 lakh on a wedding, it has to contribute 10 per cent of the amount on marriages of girls from poor families, according to the Bill introduced by Congress MP Ranjeet Ranjan, wife of MP Pappu Yadav.
The Marriages (Compulsory Registration and Prevention of Wasteful Expenditure) Bill, 2016, may be taken up as a private member's Bill in the upcoming Lok Sabha session.
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