Patna: It was a wedding-cum-rally if the size of the gathering was any indication. At least 40,000 guests turned up at the Veterinary College grounds to attend the grand wedding of RJD chief Lalu Prasad's elder son Tej Pratap Yadav.
There was hardly any place to even stand, as RJD supporters from across the state had gathered. The airport road was chock-a-block and there was a 1km-long trail of thousands of vehicles stuck in the snarl.
Though it was a grand wedding, only a few VIPS could attend. Lalu's confidante and MLA Bhola Yadav had on Friday claimed Congress president Rahul Gandhi and his sister Priyanka Gandhi would come but none of them could make it. Congress sources said many of their senior leaders could not make it owing to the elections in Karnataka. Top BJP leaders too did not come though invitations had been sent to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah.
To represent the Congress, senior leader Digvijay Singh visited 10 Circular Road and met Lalu.
Several other senior leaders who visited Lalu's residence included former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav and his wife Dimple Yadav. Even Rashtriya Lok Dal president Ajit Singh met Lalu in the afternoon.
In the morning, NCP leader Praful Patel, senior Supreme Court advocate and Rajya Sabha member Ram Jethmalani and Rajya Sabha member Subhash Chandra paid a visit.
Being a big day, most RJD MLAs, MPs and party representatives were present.
To add colour to the wedding, massive arrangements had been made for musical band party.
Twenty different band parties were called apart from 20 camels, 200 horses and 10 elephants for the baarat entourage.
Throughout the day, tribals from Koderma, Latehar and Palamu kept on dancing to their traditional tunes outside Lalu's residence.
The groom, Tej Pratap, reached the venue around 8.20pm in an SUV and his younger brother and Leader of the Opposition Tejashwi Prasad Yadav was sitting in another SUV. Lalu Prasad and Rabri Devi too accompanied their son.
The bride, Aishwarya Rai, had already reached the venue much earlier, by 7.30 pm.
Tej Pratap's friends and party workers were found dancing to Bollywood and Bhojpuri numbers all the way from 10 Circular Road to the venue.
During the wedding, JDU, Congress and RJD leaders were found sharing good moments.
RLSP chief and Union minister of state for HRD Upendra Kushwaha also attended the wedding.
From among bureaucrats, only chief secretary Anjani Kumar Singh paid a visit to the ground to attend the wedding. Governor Satya Pal Malik visited the venue to bless the couple. The governor was found talking to Lalu and Rabri on the stage.
Lalu's daughters and sons-in-law were looking happy and found sitting together. As far as food was concerned more than 30 varieties of food items were served.
Artists were called to perform in front of the guest in which Bollywood numbers were being sung.
