Lalu’s son Tej Pratap weds Aishwarya Rai in Patna

PATNA: The most- awaited wedding of RJD chief Lalu Prasad’s elder son Tej Pratap Yadav with former Bihar CM Daroga Prasad Rai’s granddaughter Aishwarya Rai was solemnized in a grand and star- studded affair in Patna on Saturday.
As many as 50 horses, elephants, tribal percussionists and over 7,000 guests marked the much-hyped wedding.

Lalu’s family had invited all virtual who’s who of the country’s power circuit for the wedding as the RJD boss was himself in judicial custody in fodder scam cases since December last. Lalu first got a three-day parole on Thursday for his son’s wedding and the Jharkhand high court on Friday granted him six-week provisional bail on medical grounds. Lalu was so happy that he told Aishwarya on the phone, “Bahut subhagyashali ho tum. Tumhare paair padte hin mere ghar mein sab kuch accha hone laga hai (You are very auspicious and lucky as everything has started falling in line with your entry into our family).” Coincidently, Lalu’s wife and former CM Rabri Devi was granted the leader of opposition status in the state legislative council on Saturday.

Prominent among the VVIP guests included former UP CM Akhilesh Yadav, Congress veteran Digvijay Singh, NCP leader Praful Patel, Union minister Ram Vilas Paswan, Patna Sahib MP Shatrughan Sinha and Sharad Yadav among others. The most keenly watched interaction was, however, of CM Nitish Kumar with Lalu. They faced each other probably for the first time after Nitish parted ways with the Grand Alliance and formed government with BJP in July last year. Congress president Rahul Gandhi and his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, however, did not attend the wedding.

The wedding procession started from Rabri’s 10, Circular Road Bungalow at around 7:30pm and reached Bihar Veterinary College grounds near the city airport. Lalu and Rabri accompanied Tej in his car. The bride and groom exchanged garlands amid thundering applauses by those present there. Tej was in a cream-colour cotton mixed silk sherwani and white pyjama while Aishwarya was clad in a red and pink lehenga with golden embroidery and stone work and red dupatta with gold beads.

The wedding rituals were later held at the 5, Circular Road bungalow of Aishwarya’s father Chandrika Rai, MLA, well past midnight with only close relatives and friends in attendance. The mandap was decorated with yellow and pink curtains, coconut fronds and banana trees.

Sources said the Lalu family had sent out over 3,000 invites while arrangements were made for at least over 10,000 persons at the wedding venue. More than 150 cooks from Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and different districts in Bihar prepared 80-odd exquisite dishes for the guests.

RJD insiders claimed the families of Tej and Aishwarya had started talks about their wedding before Lalu was jailed in fodder scam cases in December last. “The marriage was finalized in March,” said a member of RJD’s women cell, adding Rabri personally selected Aishwarya to be her daughter-in-law.

Rabri had said a few months ago that she would prefer ‘sanskari bahus’ for her two sons — Tej Pratap and Tejashwi Prasad Yadav, who is the leader of opposition in state legislative assembly. Rabri had taken the pre-wedding shagun to Aishwarya’s residence in the second week of April. The ring ceremony was held on April 18.