Covid-19 puts a question mark on Kumaraswamy's son's wedding

Bengaluru: It was to have been the mother of all weddings, with a pandal covering 125 acres to accommodate thousands of people from Ramanagar and Channapattana as well as VVIPs from all over the country. Grand pre- and post-nuptial ceremonies were planned, also attended by thousands.

However, the COVID-19 outbreak has cast a cloud over it.

The wedding of Nikhil Kumaraswamy, son of former Karnataka chief minister H D Kumaraswamy, was scheduled for April 17. Now, the family is considering making it a temple affair for 500 relatives or even making it a family-only affair at the farmhouse at Ketaganahalli near Ramanagar.

Ramanagar and Channapattana constituencies are represented in the Karnataka Assembly by Anitha Kumaraswamy and H D Kumaraswamy respectively. While Ramanagara has always been a stronghold of the Deve Gowda family, Channapattana has been a tough battle with former minister C P Yogeshwar who once even defeated Anitha Kumaraswamy. In the 2018 Assembly general election, Kumaraswamy contested from both constituencies and ensured the defeat of Yogeshwar. Anitha then won from Ramanagar in the byelection.

To cement the family's ties to the two constituencies, Kumaraswamy wanted the Nikhil wedding to straddle both constituencies so that people from both places could feel a sense of ownership.

Since former chief minister Kumaraswamy and former prime minister Deve Gowda would pull quite a crowd of VIPs, a 125 acre site some 10 km from Channapattana on the Bengaluru-Mysuru road land was taken on lease for two months. Over the past one month, temporary sheds were constructed for labourers who would build the pandal and ground work for the grand affair began.

Spanner in the works

However, when the COVID-19 problem began to loom over the state, work was slowed down. And when the threat began to grow to alarming proportions, the labourers were sent away and the temporary shelters were dismantled.

At one point of time, the family considered moving the wedding to palace grounds in Bengaluru. However, since it is a political family and the bride Revati too is from a political family (her grand uncle is Vijayanagar MLA M Krishnappa), there could be no discrimination on public entry.

At the moment, the family is still in a dilemma over whether the wedding should be conducted at Kumaraswamy's farmhouse at Ketaganahalli, where 50 members of the family can attend or at a temple which can accommodate around 500.

Gowda's first family itself has more than 30 members and the bride too comes from a large family. The second thought is to accommodate 500 people. A decision either way is to be taken after March 31, after assessing the situation.