Many expected an alliance between the Abdullah and Pilot families to be celebrated in a grand manner. While Dr Farooq Abdullah is the former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir, the late Rajesh Pilot was a senior and much respected leader of the Congress.

But their children - Sara Abdullah and Sachin Pilot - tied the knot on Thursday afternoon at a quiet ceremony in Delhi, which was boycotted by the former's family.

Dr Farooq Abdullah is reportedly in London while his son Omar Abdullah is undergoing treatment at Batra Hospital in Delhi for suspected appendicitis.

The much-awaited wedding took place in the presence of only close relatives and friends of the bridegroom at 20, Canning Lane, the official residence of Rama Pilot who represents Dausa constituency, in Rajasthan, in Parliament.

It is not clear if it involved Hindu or Muslim rituals or was just a registered marriage. The venue had been declared out of bounds for mediapersons who had turned up to cover the event.

For the Abdullahs, who are passing through a difficult phase after their National Conference lost in the state assembly elections, the wedding could not have come at a worse time.

It is likely to kick up a furore in Jammu and Kashmir with terrorist groups expected to whip up public sentiment against the Abdullah family on the issue of a Muslim girl marrying a Hindu boy.

Srinagar is ripe with speculation that Dr Abdullah has disowned his daughter. Incidentally, Omar Abdullah is married to a Sikh.

But no member of either family came forward to speak to mediapersons.