Devyani and Aishwarya (right) at their reception. (Picture courtesy: The Himalayan Times)

Kathmandu, March 30: Nepal’s political heavyweights took a break from the bustle of government formation today to bless a young couple who have just stitched an alliance of a different kind.

Devyani, the beautiful daughter of Rashtriya Prajatantra Party chairman Pashupati Rana, looked happy and resplendent in a bright red sari at the preliminary bridal reception in Kathmandu’s Tribhuvan Army Officers’ Club.

In a union involving two political families and two countries, she had married Aishwarya Singh, grandson of Indian human resource development minister Arjun Singh, in New Delhi last month.

By Rana standards, the four-hour reception was modest. Pashupati and his wife Usha Raje, sister of Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhara Raje, received the 5,000-odd guests, who included Prime Minister G.P. Koirala, Maoist supremo Prachanda and a host of VIP politicians.

The main reception, for a smaller gathering, will be held tomorrow at the Soaltee Crown Plaza Hotel, where King Gyanendra and his immediate family have been invited. “It’s a private function for family and close friends,” Rana told The Telegraph, adding that the king was expected at 1 pm.

But a hotel source suggested the royal family might not turn up after all. “Normally, we are informed in advance if the royals plan to make an appearance,” the source said. “We have no information from the palace yet.”

He added that the guest list had been pruned today to 350 from 500. Gyanendra, who was a businessman before ascending the throne following the 2001 palace massacre, owns majority stake in the hotel.

The massacre is inexorably twined with Devyani’s life, for she is believed to have been the sweetheart of Crown Prince Dipendra, who allegedly committed it. Today’s reception witnessed her first public appearance in Kathmandu since the tragedy.