While the discussion of cash crunch is going on across the country, Gali Janaradhan Reddy the mining barons daughter marriage is going on smoothly. It is reported that he is paying by way of cheques and taking the bills also. No cash transactions for the marriage so far it is reported.
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.”
Gali Reddy has reportedly promised to show all the bills later.
The 49-year-old was among the most powerful men in Karnataka and was a minister in the BJP government headed by BS Yeddyurappa till July 2011. He spent three years in jail in an illegal mining case and was released last year on bail.
If the invitation boxes had everyone gawping, the wedding takes it several notches up – unlike many other weddings that have been less insulated by a massive cash crunch after the shock abolition of Rs. 500 and Rs. 1,000 notes last week. Many who had withdrawn chunks of cash for weddings have had to rush to the bank again to replace it.
Arundhati Bhattacharya, the head of the State Bank of India or SBI, asked about the extravagance, advised to “Pay for weddings by cheques, and if you can’t, come to us, we will hand-hold you through the process.”
At the Bangalore Palace grounds, with some help from Bollywood art directors, lavish life-size sets replicate landmarks ranging from the Vitthala temple of Hampi to 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.
Around 40 bullock carts will ferry invitees from the entrance to the wedding hall. 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 close to the Reddys say some 50,000 people, including VIPs, have been invited and around 3,000 security men will stand guard.
While the people are tired and furious crowds at banks and ATMs after a sudden currency ban, a multi-crore wedding in Bengaluru is moving along like a well-oiled machine.
The wedding of Karnataka mining baron and former minister Reddy’s daughter is on Wednesday.
