IT entreprenuer and daughter of Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, Veena Thayikkandiyil and PA Muhammad Riyas, national President of Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) got married at the official residence of the Chief Minister in Thiruvananthapuram on Monday.
Only close family members attended the small function held at Cliff House. Veena, an IT entrepreneur based in Bengaluru, is the elder daughter of Pinarayi Vijayan and Kamala.
Pictures released by the CM’s office show Veena clad in an orange saree and Riyas exchanging garlands and Riyas in a white kurta tying the thaali as the CM and other family members looked on. No one however can be seen wearing masks during the function.
Muhammad Riyas, who has become a household figure in Kerala homes through his frequent apprearences in news channel debates, entered politics when he was a student. He was the former national joint secretary of DYFI, which is the youth organisation of CPI(M). He was appointed DYFI’s president in February 2017. Riyas is the son of PM Abdul Khader and KM Ayishabi.
Riyas led the ‘beef cooking’ protests against the Centre’s move to ban sale and purchase of cattle from animal markets for slaughter, in 2017. Riyas was also fielded as the CPI(M) candidate for Lok Sabha elections from Kozhikode in 2009 but he lost to MK Raghavan of UDF by over 800 votes.
The news about the wedding which came out earlier this month had become a huge talking point in the state. And as usual, there were those who found a communal undertone to the news of the wedding. The nasty memes and jokes saw many coming out in condemnation including author Benyamin and activist Rahul Eashwar.
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