Advani, Thackeray to attend Sahara wedding-II

Deputy Prime Minister Lal Kishenchand Advani will be the guest of honour at Saturday night's wedding of the younger son of Subrata Roy, the head of the Sahara empire.

Former US president, Bill Clinton, who was expected to attend the ceremony, is unlikely to make an appearance.

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Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray, who has not left Mumbai for years for security reasons, is flying in a chartered plane with his son, Uddhav and daughters-in-law, Rashmi and Smita.

Seemanto, described by Sahara's PR mangers as the richest Indian bachelor, will tie the knot with Chandni amidst pomp and splendour that will only rival the February 10 wedding his elder brother, Sushanto.

Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee was present for Sushanto's wedding.

Several celebrity couples and leading sports personalities are part of the guest list for Saturday's event, which coincides with the Valentine's Day.

Among the glamour couples arriving for the wedding are Shah Rukh Khan and wife Gauri, Hrithik Roshan and Suzanne, Vivek Oberoi and Aishwarya Rai, Leander Paes and Mahima Choudhary and the Bachchans.

The entire Indian cricket team led by Saurav Ganguly and the hockey team led by Dilip Tirkey are expected to be there.

Many leading lights of Mumbai's tinsel world, who had flown back after the first wedding, would return for this evening's extravaganza.

Among the leading political personalities attending would be Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu , Assam Governor Lt. Gen. S K Sinha and Uttaranchal Governor S S Barnala.

Several leading journalists are also scheduled to fly in.

Over a dozen chartered flights would ferry VVIP guests between Delhi and Lucknow and Mumbai and Lucknow and Sahara choppers would fly them from the Lucknow airport to Sahara Shahar's private helipad.

Once again, some 45,000 designer candles from Twinkle Khanna's collection will adorn the artificial lake in the sprawling 200-acre residence of the Sahara chief.

Some 500 florists are on the job decorating the house.
 
According to an insider, over 110 varieties of cuisines, Swiss and Belgian chocolates and the choicest of French wines would be included in the evening's spread with Spanish and Mexican music adding the right flavour.

While there is no official disclosure on the extent of money that is going into the opulent show, unofficial estimates put the figure at Rs. 2.5 billion!