Deve Gowda blessing the newlyweds. Former Karnataka Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy’s son Nikhil Gowda married Revathi at a farmhouse near Bidadi in Ramanagara district amid the extended lockdown, a spokesman said on Friday.
“As scheduled, the wedding was held at the auspicious time (10-11 a.m.) in the farmhouse at Kethaganahalli near Bidadi in the presence of family members and close relatives,” Kumaraswamy’s media secretary K.C. Sadananda said on phone.
The farmhouse is 3 km from Bidadi and 45 km southwest of Bengaluru towards Mysuru in the state.
Nikhil (28) got engaged to Revathi (22), grand niece of state Congress leader M. Krishnappa, in Bengaluru on February 10.
“About 100 people attended the ceremony, performed as per Hindu rites by priests in the presence of the couple’s parents, other family members and relatives,” said Sadananda.
Among those present were Nikhil’s grandfather — JD-S supremo and former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda, grandmother Chennamma, uncles, including state’s former minister H.D. Revanna, cousin and Hassan Lok Sabha member Prajwal Hegde.
“The wedding was simple without frills. The grandparents and the couple’s parents blessed the bride and bridegroom amid chanting of Vedic hymns by family priests,” recalled Sadanada.
The lockdown extension since April 15 to May 3 forced the Gowda clan to shift the wedding venue to the farmhouse from the bride’s house in Bengaluru, which is a Covid-19 hotspot, with over 80 positive cases reported so far.
“Kumaraswamy took the state government’s permission to conduct the marriage at his farmhouse and secured car passes to ferry the family members and relatives from Bengaluru,” noted Sadanand.
Though Ramanagara is a green spot without a single Covid-19 case so far, security was tightened for the event and the 3 km road to the farmhouse from the state highway at Bidadi was blocked to prevent the party’s cadres and Nikhil’s fans from flocking to the venue.
“As the lockdown norms do not permit more than 100 guests for a ceremony like wedding, Kumaraswamy has requested the people, including the party’s members to bless the couple from their homes to prevent crowding,” Sadanand said.
Nikhil’s mother Anita is the JD-S legislator from the Ramanagara assembly segment. She won the seat in the November 2018 by-election after Kumaraswamy vacated it, as he had also won from the adjacent Channapatna assembly segment in the May 2018 assembly elections in the southern state and retained it.
“Kumaraswamy has promised the party leaders, workers and the people of Ramanagara to hold a grand reception for the couple and treat them to lavish food after summer and when normalcy returns post-Covid war,” added Sadanand.
Nikhil, a rising bilingual (Kannada/Telugu) star, lost to south Indian actress Sumalatha Ambareesh, an Independent, in the May 2019 general election from the Mandya Lok Sabha seat as a JD-S candidate in his bid to enter politics.
The wedding sparked a row over alleged violation of lockdown norms.
Taking objection to non-observance of social distancing by the attendees who didn’t wear face masks, Deputy Chief Minister C.N. Ashwath Narayan told reporters here that he had asked the district’s Deputy Commissioner and Superintendent of Police to inquire into the charge that lockdown guidelines were violated.
“Permission was given for the wedding but with guidelines to maintain social distancing and wearing of face masks by all those attending the ceremony. If there is a violation, action will be taken,” Narayan said.