New Delhi: Raghav Chadha got engaged to Bollywood actress Parineeti Chopra, who is the cousin of Priyanka Chopra Jonas, on the same day when the Aam Aadmi Party made a comeback to the Lok Sabha via a byelection caused by the death of their former Congress MP in Jalandhar.
It was a hot Saturday afternoon, but the normally quiet Kapurthala House - once the sprawling Delhi home of Kapurthala's Maharaja Paramjit Singh and now the official residence of Punjab's Governor and Chief Minister when they're in Delhi - was a hive of activity.
Photographers and videographers jostled for the best angles, shouting out requests to the arriving guests to pose for pictures, while excited workmen walked in with last-minute deliverables. The evening's Granthi (priest) sauntered in, and Bollywood's favourite designer, Manish Malhotra, darted in and out with Parineeti's dress for the occasion before returning to join the party.
For the paparazzi who were waiting for a rush of Bollywood and political celebrities, the action started only after the evening descended on this quieter part of Lutyens's Delhi, just across the road from the Taj Mahal Hotel. Earlier in the evening, the two families kept it a low-key affair, meant for loved ones and close friends.
Priyanka, who was with her cousin at The Lodhi Hotel after flying in from Mumbai in the morning, zipped in, flashing a victory sign from her car.
Before she arrived, Chadha's seniors in the Rajya Sabha, both representing West Bengal in the Upper House, showed up. Ace Supreme Court advocate and Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi, with his wife, ghazal and Sufi singer Anita Singhvi, and Derek O'Brien, also with his wife, Dr Tonuca Basu, happily posed for photographers. Singhvi even showed the paper bag in which he was carrying a gift for the couple.
Then came the political bigwigs: Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann flaunting his trademark yellow turban and ever-ready smile, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal with his wife, Sunita Kejriwal, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader and Uddhav Thackeray's son, Aditya Thackeray, and former finance minister and Congress Rajya Sabha MP, P. Chidambaram, fresh off his television appearances after the party's victory in Karnataka.
On a day when the Karnataka election results were consuming the minds of the nation, these politicians were taking a well-deserved break, though without a doubt, their conversation must have been about the changing political narrative.
(With IANS inputs)
