Nitish Kumar, Lalu Yadav shake hands as Bihar CM attends Tej Pratap's wedding

RJD leader Tej Pratap Yadav, the elder son of former Bihar chief ministers Lalu Prasad and Rabri Devi, on Saturday tied the knot with Aishwarya Rai, the daughter of a party MLA.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar RJD chief Lalu Prasad during the wedding ceremony of the latters elder son Tej Pratap at Veterinary College Ground in Patna on Saturday. PTI Photo

PATNA: RJD leader Tej Pratap Yadav, the elder son of former Bihar chief ministers Lalu Prasad and Rabri Devi, on Saturday tied the knot with Aishwarya Rai, the daughter of a party MLA. A galaxy of VIPs and thousands of commoners attended the wedding ceremony at the sprawling veterinary college ground. Bihar Governor Satya Pal Mallik, Union minister Ram Vilas Paswan, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and several of his cabinet colleagues, veteran socialist leader Sharad Yadav were there to bless the couple. The entire top brass of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) stood at the entrance to welcome the guests. Nitish Kumar, who has strained relations with the RJD chief's family ever since walked away from the Grand Alliance and returned to the BJP-led NDA, was greeted with loud cheers from the gathering. He exchanged pleasantries with Prasad and later sat on the dais flanked by the RJD chief and Rabri Devi. Prasad's younger son and former deputy chief minister Tejashwi Yadav and daughter Misa Bharti, a Rajya Sabha MP, greeted Kumar. Other dignitaries who came to the city earlier to bless the couple included former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav and his wife Dimple Yadav, NCP leader Praful Patel, Congress leader Digvijaya Singh and lawyer Ram Jethmalani. Prasad, convicted and jailed in cases of fodder scam since December, was on Thursday granted a three-day parole to attend the wedding. Notable absentees included Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi, a staunch critic but old associate of Prasad, and Union minister Ram Kripal Yadav, who was a trusted lieutenant of the RJD supremo until he decided to part ways in 2014. Both Modi and Ram Kripal Yadav were out of the country. Yesterday, the RJD supremo's close confidant Bhola Yadav had claimed that Congress president Rahul Gandhi and his sister Priyanka Vadra were also scheduled to attend the wedding. A stage was put up at the college ground where the groom dressed in pink sherwani and pyjama of matching shade exchanged garlands with the bride who wore a bright red dress. She is the daughter of RJD MLA Chandrika Rai. The event was marked by rendition of tunes played by several music bands. Besides, a colourful procession was taken out by members of the Yaduvanshi Sena, a non-political organisation of the Yadav community. A lavish spread of vegetarian dishes, prepared by a Kanpur-based caterer, has been laid out for the guests. Nearly a 100 rooms in four of the city's top hotels have been booked for the wedding guests.