Lavish wedding angers cash-strapped Indians

The lavish wedding of the daughter of an Indian politician has sparked outrage as millions across the country are in the midst of a cashflow crisis.

 

The five-day wedding of businessmen and ex-state minister G Janardhana Reddy's daughter, Brahmani, is estimated to cost about 5bn rupees ($74m; £59m).

 

But with gold-plated invitations and Bollywood stars expected to perform, the nuptials have proved controversial, reports BBC.

 

Critics have described it as an "obscene display of wealth".

 

The wedding kicked off just days after the Indian government announced it would scrap 500 and 1,000 rupee notes in a crackdown on undeclared wealth, making redundant the vast majority of cash that Indians use on a daily basis. Millions of Indians have been standing in queues in an effort to deposit or exchange the old currency and frustration is widespread.

 

Weddings in India are no exception to India's largely cash-based economy and many payments for wedding services are typically made in cash.

 

Mr Reddy was quoted as saying that he had mortgaged properties in Bangalore and Singapore to raise money for the wedding and that all payments were made six months ago when the planning started.

 

It hasn't stopped Indians taking to social media to ridicule the expensive wedding. His political opponents meanwhile have used it to speculate if the prime minister's drive against illegal "black money" would include elites.

 

A former member of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Karnataka state, Mr Reddy recently spent three years in jail on corruption charges, which he denies, and was freed on bail last year.