NEW DELHI, Feb 22 - Devyani Rana, who made the headlines because of her ‘friendship’ with the then Crown Prince Dipendra, is all set to tie the knot with an Indian royal Prince Aishwarya Singh in New Delhi in a grand celebration on Friday.
Devyani, who is the great grand daughter of the last Rana Prime Minister of Nepal late Mohan Shumsher Rana, has chosen as her life partner, India’s central minister Arjun Singh’s grandson Aishwarya Singh. The series of ceremonies will be held at Sindhya House in Sarojini Nagar, Delhi.

It is the fourth Nepali-Indian marriage in the family of the bride’s father, Pashupati Shumsher Rana who himself is married to Usharaje Sindhya, who belongs to the Gwalior Royal family. Earlier, his sister and his eldest daughter were also married off to India.

An exuberant Rana said, “Arjun Singh is a true friend of mine and I am very happy that we are going to be family soon.”

Singh, who was previously the chief minister of Madhya Pradesh and governor of Punjab, is a veteran leader of the Congress-I. Similarly, Rana who has been a minister time and again during both the Panchayat rule and after the arrival of democracy in Nepal, is also the chairman of the Rashtriya Prajatantra party, the opposition party of Nepal.

Although his family relations are affiliated with the Congress-I party, his political affiliations lie with the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP), perhaps because his sister-in-law is the current chief minister of Rajasthan for BJP. He has cordial relations with other BJP leaders as well.

A businessman by profession, Aishwarya is the son of the Rajasahib Bhuwaneshwore Pratap Singh and Ranisahib Bina ofMadhye Pradesh. On one hand, Aishwarya runs his large farmhouse and is an Indian business representative for various multinational companies like Microsoft on the other.

Meanwhile, Devyani works at the United Nations Development Project (UNDP) office in New Delhi.

Accordign to Rana, he put forth a formal proposal to Singh around three months ago after Devyani and Aishwarya fell in love. “It could be called a love marriage,” Rana said, “After all they chose one another.”

Devyani, who has recently recovered from a bout of meningitis, has been under great stress after the Royal Massacre of June 1st, 2001. She remained pursed lipped about her alleged relationship with the then Crown Prince Dipendra no matter how hard the national and international media tried to malign her.

The marriage, to which various dignitaries from Nepal, India and various other nations have been invited, began with the engagement on Thursday amidst grand celebrations.

The descendents of Chandra Shumsher and Babar Shumsher like Jaya Shah, Jagdish Shumsher Rana and Jitu Shumsher have been invited from Nepal. Likewise, from India, various other personalities like Dr Karan Singh have also been invited from the Indian side of the bride’s family.

Rana also informed us that King Gyanendra, Prime Minsiter Girija Prasad Koirala, Deputy Prime Minister duo K.P. Oli and Amik Sherchan, Maoist chairman Prachanda and leaders of other parties and all the central committee members of the RPP have all been invited.

When asked about the invitation to the king, he replied, “No matter what has happened, I can’t just not invite him.”

Among the foreign dignitaries, those who have been invited include the King of Bhutan, former Prime Minsiter of Sri Lanka Ranil Bikram Singh, and politicians from Thailand, United Kingdom and United States of America.

According to sources, King Gyanendra has received an invitation from the groom’s side as well. King Gyanndra and Arjun Sigh have family relations as well.

Congress-I president Sonia Gandhi and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh are also on the groom’s guest list.

Around 5000 national and international guests arrived for the main ceremony today.

In the wedding, which is being done in the traditional Rana-Rajput style, the bride will wear her grandmother’s wedding outfit. The marriage will be conducted by a team of five Brahmin priests of the Rana family, led by Khulendra Raj Satyal, from Nepal.

As a wedding gift, Aishwarya pampered his wife-to-be with a Mercedes on Tuesday.

During the wedding ceremony, the groom will be fed 84 dishes served out in platters of gold and silver prepared by cooks specially brought in from Lucknow and Kathmandu.

Rana further said that the newly weds would move into an apartment at Nizamuddin, Delhi. “Although Devyani is currently on leave for a few days, she will definitely resume her work at the UNDP” Rana said.

He however, declined to reveal the total cost of the wedding, claiming ignorance in such matters. “As my wife has been handling all the preparations, I do not know what the total cost will amount to. I will let you know on the wedding day,” he said.

According to sources, both Rana and Sindhiya families will openly display their wealth in this spectacular bash.

All the members of the wedding procession will be gifted with imported British suits and Rs two hundred thousand has been spent to ensure the security of the high profile guests.