 "A view of the Parliament House in New Delhi. (Photo: PTI)")
The Opposition on Wednesday hit out at the Narendra Modi government over mining baron G Janardhana Reddy's daughter's royal wedding in Bellary. Opposition leaders in Rajya Sabha took potshots at the government to the extravagant wedding saying while the nation is facing a cash crunch and people are standing in long queues for hours outside banks, ATMs; Rs 500 crore is being spent on the wedding.
An united opposition tried to corner the government on the first day of the Winter Session of Parliament on the issue of demonetisation.
Leaders across the political line raised the issue targeted the government and reminded it of its promise of bringing back black money and giving Rs 15 lakh to every family.
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.
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.
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..
