Patna: Chief minister Nitish Kumar will be in Mumbai this weekend to attend the wedding of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader and former Union civil aviation minister Praful Patel's daughter.

"The chief minister will fly off to Mumbai on Saturday to attend the function in Praful Patel's family and return to Patna on Sunday," a highly placed source told The Telegraph on Thursday.

"He is also slated to review the working of the Mumbai chapter of Bihar Foundation and the Bihar investment commissioner's office there

Praful's daughter Poorna Patel is getting married to entrepreneur Namit Soni, and the three-day ceremonies began on Thursday.

Nitish's visit to a function that is expected to be graced by the top Opposition leaders of the country, especially those from the Congress and the NCP, is expected to raise eyebrows in political circles, especially when the state legislature and the Parliament will both be in session.

Nitish, who also happens to be the national president of his party, the JDU, had recently refused to criticise Congress president Rahul Gandhi and had also evaded questions on offers by Congress leaders to join the Grand Alliance.

All these happened soon after reports of a patch-up with ally BJP.

Asked about the impact of Nitish attending a function at NCP leader's family, a senior JDU leader said on condition of anonymity: "Leaders in Opposition camps do attend functions in each other's family, but our chief minister's visit will surely raise hackles in political circles, just like it did when he attended RJD chief Lalu Prasad's eldest son Tej Pratap Yadav's wedding.

"People will say he is keeping his options open, but in my opinion, the visit should be seen just as a personal engagement."

Meanwhile, the offices of Bihar Foundation and state investment commissioner in Mumbai are buzzing with activity as people are busy in preparations to face any question that Nitish lobs on them.

The two offices have been renovated recently.