Varun ties nuptial knot with graphic designer Yamini

Varanasi (PTI)- Nehru-Gandhi scion Varun Gandhi
on Sunday wed graphic designer Yamini Roy Chowdhury in a
simple ceremony attended by a handful of people in a temple on
the banks of the Ganges here.
Varun, who is an Member of Parliament from Pilibhit in
the northern part of India, is the youngest grandchild of
former Indian Prime Minister late Indira Gandhi and son of
late Sanjay Gandhi.
30-year-old Varun, who was in a cream 'kurta-pyjama
with saffron 'angvastram', got married to Yamini, a brahmin,
at a ceremony in Kamakoti Temple at Hanuman Ghat in which
Kanchi Shankaracharya Swami Jayendra Saraswati participated.
Yamini, who is from Shantiniketan in West Bengal and
has studied in Delhi's St Stephens college and in France, wore
a pink saree which had been gifted by Indira Gandhi to her
daughter-in-law Maneka, an MP from Aonla in Uttar Pradesh, 40
years ago.

With shehnai playing amidst blowing of conch shells,
the ceremony, presided over by six priests, took place between
0730 hrs and 0900 hrs (local time) in the presence of a select
gathering that besides Maneka included the girl's mother Aruna
Vasudev.
Neither any senior BJP leader nor any one from Sonia
Gandhi's family was present. A source close to Varun claimed
that the BJP MP had met Sonia earlier to invite her for the
reception.
The marriage took place as per Sanatan-Hindu customs.
"The marriage went off very well. I have blessed the couple,"
Jayendra Saraswati told reporters here.
"We are very happy the wedding took place in Varanasi.
It is the heart of India. We are very blessed that we got this
opportunity," Maneka, the estranged daughter-in-law of Indira
Gandhi, said.
Aruna Vasudev said, "I am very happy. The wedding took
place in a proper manner. I am happy to get a son-in-law like
him (Varun)...They are also very lucky to get a good
daughter-in-law."
Soon after the ceremony, the newly-weds took 'prasad'
in the temple and then left for a hotel. Later they took a
chartered flight for Delhi. Media was not allowed inside the
temple during the marriage rituals.
The reception scheduled for March 8 in Delhi has been
cancelled following the death of 77-year-old Amteshwar Anand,
mother of Maneka, on February 28.
The 'haldi' pre-marriage ceremony of Varun had taken
place at the Kamakoti temple last evening.
Among others present at the marriage were Bansgaon MP
Kamlesh Paswan, Varanasi Mayor Kaushalendra Singh and member
of the Bijnore royal family Bharatendu Singh.