Patna: The "simple marriage" devoid of gifts, dowry, feast and any kind of band- baaja of deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi's elder son may not turn out as "simple" as he wanted it to be as the list of VIPs expected to attend is getting longer by the minute.
President Ram Nath Kovind, vice-president Venkaiah Naidu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi are not attending the Sunday wedding and have instead sent congratulatory messages to the bride and groom. But the top political brass from the NDA have confirmed their participation at the marriage to be held at the Bihar Veterinary College ground.
Sushil's elder son Utkarsh Tathagat, who is an MBA and works with a multi-national company, will tie the knot with Yamini Verma, a chartered accountant from Calcutta.
At least a dozen-and-half Union ministers, six chief ministers, two deputy chief ministers and three governors are flying down to attend it. Many of them will arrive on chartered flights.
"Around 18 Union ministers, including home minister Rajnath Singh, finance minister Arun Jaitley, transport minister Nitin Gadkari, human resource development minister Prakash Javadekar, parliamentary affairs minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and seven central ministers who are from Bihar will attend the ceremony," said a close aide of Sushil.
Among chief ministers, Raghubar Das (Jharkhand), Raman Singh (Chhattisgarh), Shivraj Singh Chouhan (Madhya Pradesh), Trivendra Singh Rawat (Uttarakhand) and Manohar Lal Khattar (Haryana) have already confirmed their participation, while Vasundhara Raje (Rajasthan) is also expected to make an appearance. Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar will be there.
Deputy chief ministers Keshav Prasad Maurya (Uttar Pradesh) and Nirmal Kumar Singh (Jammu and Kashmir) are expected to attend the ceremony.
Among the governors, Ganga Prasad (Meghalaya), Mridula Sinha (Goa) and Ram Naik (Uttar Pradesh) have confirmed they will attend the marriage ceremony.
A large number of MPs, MLAs, MLCs, party workers, traders, relatives, friends, bureaucrats, and people hailing from different walks of life will be present. "Sushil Modi ji wanted to keep the marriage simple and sent out just 2,500 invitations. The marriage is still going to be conducted in a simple manner, but with so many top politicians coming, it is sure to become a glitzy event," said a politician close to the deputy chief minister.
The police and district administration are on their toes to make proper security arrangements for the large number of VIPs and lawmakers coming to town.
A three-layer security cordon will be thrown around the airport and the marriage venue, which is located close-by. Since most guests will return the same day, it won't prove to be too difficult a task.
