Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was spotted dining at a Delhi pizzeria amid furore over the Anant Ambani-Radhika Merchant wedding. The undated video has since gone viral on social media alongside photos of leading politicians from across the spectrum taking part in the festivities. Speculative reports suggest that the Raebareli lawmaker turned down an invite to the grand event in spite of a personal visit from Mukesh Ambani.
Visuals shared online show Gandhi talking animatedly while seated at a corner table. It remains unclear when or where the short clip was filmed — presumably by another restaurant patron.
Politicians made up a significant portion of the guest list during the three day event — including Prime Minister Narendra Modi who headed to Mumbai for the blessing ceremony on Saturday. The guest list included several Union Ministers as well as the Chief Ministers of several states — including Opposition-run West Bengal.
While all the political leaders attended the Ambani family wedding, Rahul Gandhi was at a restaurant ordering pizza.#AnantwedsRadhika #AnantRadhika pic.twitter.com/QSPNG9oC68
— Satyam Patel | 𝕏… (@SatyamInsights) July 13, 2024
Mamata Banerjee was not the only Opposition leader who attended the wedding ceremony. Samajwadi Party Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav also put in an appearance with his family for both the wedding and the blessing ceremony the next day.
Day two of the Ambani wedding also saw key figures from the Maharashtra political arena join the festivities — including CM Eknath Shinde and his deputies Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar. They were also joined by Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray and NCP (SP) leader Sharad Pawar. Former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu and Deputy CM Pawan Kalyan were also present.
Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad Yadav attended the wedding on Friday.
It is pertinent to note that only a scant number of Congress leaders were present for the multi-day celebrations. Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi was spotted on the red carpet of the wedding ceremony while party MP Rajeev Shukla made an appearance during the reception on Sunday.
(With inputs from agencies)
