King Gyanendra, Bhutan king skip ceremony

New Delhi, February 23:

Devyani Rana, who shot into limelight after the 2001 royal massacre, finally tied the knot with an Indian prince Kunwar Aishwarya Singh here today. 

The wedding between the 34-year-old Devyani and Aishwarya was a gala affair marked by a grand celebration. Devyani, the great grand-daughter of the last Rana PM of Nepal, late Mohan Shumsher Rana, is now the spouse of Indian Human Resources Minister Arjun Singh’s grandson Aishwarya, a successful businessman.

Dignitaries from Nepal, India, Bhutan, Sri Lanka,Thailand, the UK, the US and SAARC countries had been invited by both the bride and bridegroom. Among the invitees, King Gyanendra of Nepal and Bhutan’s King skipped the ceremony. King Gyanendra did not attend the wedding due to “unknown reasons”, according to a high-place source here.

Indian Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh, chairperson of the UPA govt at the centre Sonia Gandhi, nearly all senior Indian ministers, former PM of Sri Lanka Ranil Wickramesinghe, head of foreign missions in New Delhi and dignitaries from every walk of society here were present at the high-profile wedding. Invitee Udaya Shumsher Rana, a career politician from Nepal and relative of Devyani, said: “Since yesterday evening, I am busy welcoming such dignitaries about whom I had only read about and seen their pictures in the media.”

Considering the known-to-each other families and longstanding ties between Nepali Ranas and Indian Rajputs, both families are happy with this marriage, said a relative of the bride.

This is the fourth Nepali-Indian wedding in the late Mohan Shumsher’s family. His son Pashupati Shumsher JB Rana is married to Usharaje Scindhia who belongs to the well-known Indian Rajput family of Gwalior. “Arjun Singh is my friend and I am happy to build a deeper relationship with his family,” said Pashupati in an interview on the eve of the wedding. Groom Aishwarya Singh, apart from being a successful businessman, is also interested in environment conservation. He is the son of Bhuwaneshwor Singh and Bina Singh, the daughter of Arjun Singh.

The bride’s father, Pashupati, who is a seasoned Nepali politician and grandson of the last Rana PM Mohan Shumser, was elated at this wedding.

He said he was happy that his daughter chose such a brilliant partner. After the royal tragedy, Devyani had left Nepal to work in Switzerland. She works with UNDP in New Delhi in the capacity of senior officer. Devyani, who recently recovered from meningitis, looked serious during the whole ceremony.