Many top leaders including Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan and former chief minister Oommen Chandy, stayed away from the wedding function of controversial liquor baron Biju Ramesh’s daughter.
Ramesh’s daughter Megha got married to Congress MLA Adoor Praksh’s son Ajaykrishnan on Sunday.
KPCC president V M Sudheeran and Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala also gave the wedding a miss.
The wedding ceremony was in the limelight due to the massive Akshardham Temple-like structure created for the function, at an eight-acre venue in Thiruvananthapuram.
Though the function had around 20,000 invitees, prominent faces were less. Union minister Vayalar Ravi, PJ Kurien, former Kerala Assembly Speaker N Sakthan, former Kerala minister Aryadan Mohammad, former Speaker and Andaman and Nicobar Lt Governor Vakkom Purushottaman, Tamil Nadu Minister S P Velu Mani and former ISRO chairman G Madhavan Nair were some of the attendees.
LDF minister VS Sunil Kumar and MLA Mukesh attended the marriage ceremony at the temple but did not come to the reception.
As Congress leaders Chennithala and Sudheeran had earlier slammed extravagant weddings, most of the Congress leaders stayed away from the ceremony even though it was their party colleague’s son’s wedding. VM Sudheeran had slammed Oommen Chandy and Ramesh Chennithala for secretly attending the engagement ceremony of the couple a few months ago.
The Megha – Ajaykrishnan alliance had raised eyebrows as Biju Ramesh was the whistleblower in the Kerala bar scam, which had rocked the previous UDF regime, in which Adoor Prakash was also a minister. Biju Ramesh’s bribery allegations against former finance minister and Kerala Congress supremo K M Mani, eventually led to Mani’s resignation.
The grooms’ father -former minister Adoor Prakash- is also no stranger to controversy following the recommendation of a Vigilance enquiry against him for allegedly demanding Rs 25 lakhs to sanction a ration depot at Omasseri in Kozhikode while in office. The then state Opposition had cried itself hoarse demanding his resignation.
All Photos : Sreekesh Raveendran Nair