Kritika Singhal, daughter of diamond merchant Suresh Singhal and Suryakant, son of industrialist Ajay Gupta during their wedding ceremony, in Auli, Thursday, June 20, 2019. (PTI Photo)Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat, who attended a wedding hosted by South Africa’s controversial Gupta family in Auli on Saturday, said that the event had turned the meadow into a “tourist destination”.
“They could have held this wedding anywhere in the world but they chose Auli… the Gupta family has contributed to turning Auli into a tourist destination by doing the wedding here…,” Rawat said.
Also present at the wedding were former CM Harish Rawat, yoga guru Ramdev and his close aide Balkrishna.
Read | Auli stares at mountain of waste after Gupta weddings
For the last five days, the alpine meadow in Uttarakhand has seen a slew of politicians, actors and musicians attend the weddings of Suryakant and Shashank Gupta. The family, which is known for their dubious links to former South Africa president Jacob Zuma, and is facing corruption charges, shifted base to Dubai last year.
At the wedding venue in Auli, Thursday. (Express photo by Abhinav Saha)Suryakant got married on Thursday, while Shashank’s wedding was on Saturday.
The five-day wedding saw a plethora of performances by singers Badshah, Kailash Kher, Javed Ali, Shruti Pathak, and Astha Gill; as well as actors Katrina Kaif and Sidharth Malhotra.
The Rs 200 crore mega event had earlier earned the ire of the Uttarakhand High Court after a petition was filed against it. The court slammed the state government for allowing the weddings to take place in the ecologically fragile meadow. However, the chief minister reportedly rubbished the environmental concerns.
