Political bigwigs grace Kalmadi wedding

PUNE, May 16: Keeping his word on simplicity, Congress bigwig Suresh Kalmadi solemnised the wedding of daughter Sonali with local young bus...

PUNE, May 16: Keeping his word on simplicity, Congress bigwig Suresh Kalmadi solemnised the wedding of daughter Sonali with local young businessman Rahul Sathe at a simple but tasteful ceremony at the picturesque Empress Gardens in the Cantonment area here this morning, though, of course, with an impressive gathering of the creme-de-la-creme from the Indian politics, industry and silver screen.

The couple entered into wedlock amidst chanting of mangalashtakas, both in Marathi and Kannada, even as a classical Carnatic music recital added to the ambience of the Empress Botanical Gardens, the venue of the marriage.

Among those who witnessed the wedding were former prime ministers Chandrashekhar and H D Deve Gowda, chief ministers J H Patel of Karnataka and Pratapsingh Rane of Goa. A host of VVIP politicians including former Union ministers and former chief ministers were also present.

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Maharashtra Governor P C Alexander was among the first to congratulate the newly-weds. Deve Gowda and Chandrashekhar happily posed with the couple for a quick photo session under the canopy bedecked with marigold-jasmine.Congress leader in Lok Sabha Sharad Pawar played the host along with Pune mayor Vandana Chavan even as Kalmadi and his wife, Meera, were busy in the religious rites. Former deputy chairman of Union Planning Commission Mohan Dharia was seen making the VVIP guests feel at home. The guests were presented with traditional Maharashtrian turbans and almost everybody — with the exception of Deve Gowda — sported them.

Securitymen were comfortably held at bay at the sprawling botanical garden and even apart from the two former prime ministers and the two chief ministers other VVIPs like governor Alexander, Jagannath Mishra, R K Dhavan, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Satish Sharma, Ramkrishan Hegde, S Bangarappa, Veerappa Moily, Arvind Netam, Vilas Muttemwar, K P Unnikrishnan or V N Gadgil among many others were seen mingling freely with the lesser mortal guests.

The entry of Chandraswami at the marriage ceremony minutes after the muhurat, came as a surprise to all. He was escorted by his aides as he climbed the steps to the dias to bless the couple.