Reddys, a Rs 500 cr wedding and the BJP connect: What you need to know

Sources said some 50,000 people, including politicians and celebrities, have been invited for the wedding

Mining baron Gali Janardhana Reddy has returned to Bellary in Karnataka with a bang and is hosting an over Rs 500 crore lavish wedding of his daughter at the Bangalore Palace grounds on Wednesday. The details of the marriage have taken social media by  storm at a time when the nation is scrambling for cash after the government's demonetisation announcement. 

The Bellary mining baron was arrested in 2011 on charges of illegally mining iron ore and was in prison for over three years. Reddy was also the state tourism minister in BS Yeddyurappa’s government before his arrest. Reddy is said to have minted  Rs 5,000 crore through iron ore mining in Bellary. The criminal charges against Reddy relate to the Andhra Pradesh branch of the multi-billion dollar mining empire he runs with family and two brothers, popularly called the Bellary brothers.

Several reports suggested that various BJP leaders attended one of the functions despite a party diktat to not be associated with Reddy who is out on bail. India Today reported that a state BJP leaders attended the wedding functions with the upcoming elections in mind as both Janardshan Reddy and his confidante BSR Congress MLA Sreeramulu have  a strong hold in the Bellary region and several parts of Hyderabad-Karnataka. The wedding is being touted as a 'PR masterstoke'  to indicate that Gali Janardhan Reddy is back in the game. 

From cards to venue, everything is larger than life at this extravagant wedding. However, Reddy is now embroiled in political storm as an activist has filed a complaint with the directorate general of income tax (investigations) questioning the extravagant nature of the wedding, Hindustan Times reported.

In the complaint, RTI activist T Narasimha Murthy said the arrangements have raised eyebrows as the comman man is  standing in long queues to withdraw cash after demonetisation. 

Here is everything you need to know about the wedding: 

The invitation that was sent in October came in a box with an LCD screen playing a song featuring the Reddy family costing over Rs 10000 per card. It was just a trailer of the lavish wedding.

With some help from Bollywood art directors, lavish life-size sets have been put up at the venue, replicating landmarks like the Vitthala temple of Hampi and the Cowl Bazaar in Chennai.

There are replicas of the homes of bride Bramhani Reddy and groom Rajeev Reddy. The dining area is designed like a village in Bellary, the Reddys' hometown, an NDTV report said. 

There are flower elephants, musicians and giant balloons with images of the Reddys. Eight priests have been brought in from the famous Thirumala temple. Sources said some 50,000 people, including politicians and celebrities, have been invited and around 3,000 security men will stand guard.

There are reports that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the entire Cabinet has been invited for the wedding. According to his close circle invitation has also been sent all top serving and retired IAS and IPS officers in Karnataka.

The Reddy wedding organisers claim that around Rs 30 crore is being spent and "all of it has been paid upfront to event management companies by cheque and is accounted for".

Mr Reddy has reportedly promised to produce all the bills later.

Counted among the most powerful men in Karnataka, Reddy was a minister in the BJP government headed by BS Yeddyurappa till July 2011. He spent three years in jail in an illegal mining case and was released in 2015 on bail.

The wedding is likely to be exclusively telecast by Janasri TV, which was launched by Reddy and his close associate B Sriramulu, who is the MP from Bellary, even though media persons from across the publications have been invited to the event.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal also questioned the lavish spending at Reddy's daughter's wedding.

"Weddings are getting held up across the country but Reddy has spent Rs 500 crore as per reports. Why is the IT not raiding Reddy? Vijay Mallya who has Rs 8,000 crore debt was allowed to flee by BJP. Rs 1.14 lakh crore of big corporates loan was waived."