Lavish wedding for BJP state prez son is talk of the town

A video wedding invite followed by a grand celebration with a stage designed like a golden palace, the wedding of BJP state president Raosaheb Danve’s son, Santosh, in Aurangabad on Thursday has come under the public scanner for the amount of money spent on it.

The ostentatious celebrations saw attendance of thousands of guests, besides all political VIPS starting with CM Devendra Fadnavis and his cabinet. Santosh Danve, also the youngest legislator in the Maharashtra Assembly, was elected from home turf of Bhokardan constituency in Jalna district in 2014 polls, even as his father contested and won the general elections.

Santosh wed Renu Sarkate, at a grand spectacle ceremony on the outskirts of Aurangabad city, at the sprawling Jabinda Estate lawn grounds on Thursday evening.

The wedding stage and the outer facade of the venue were designed to look like a golden palace, which set tongues wagging over the wedding expenses. The pre-wedding video invite the groom recently shared also became a talking point on social media. Shot by Dream Diaries, a wedding photography firm, the video shows Santosh and his fiancee Renu dancing to an English number with two costume changes and props thrown in.

The video wedding invite is reminiscent of the wedding celebration of mining baron Gali Janardan Reddy’s daughter, that came under the scanner for its opulence, just on the heels of the demonetisation decision.

With the number of VIP guests attending, most hotel rooms were booked in Aurangabad and roads leading to the venue on Beed bypass were cordoned off for public use.

This is learnt to have irked local residents. Just a few months ago, wedding celebration of Union minister Nitin Gadkari’s daughter’s wedding raised eyebrows for a similar grand celebrations including hiring of charter planes for guests.

Danve’s son’s wedding once again shows why the recently tabled Lok Sabha bill that aims at curbing wedding guests and expenses at Rs 5 lakh is unlikely to ever see the light of the day given our politicos’ love for lavish celebrations. While most state BJP leaders marked their attendance.

Ally-turned-rival Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray gave the wedding a miss.