CHANDIGARH: Punjab chief
minister Prakash Singh Badal would fly to the US next week to attend the
wedding of state rural development minister Surjit Singh Rakhra's niece
at a 30-acre ranch in Mequon, Wisconsin. Many of the well-heeled
colleagues in his 11-member cabinet would also attend the wedding even
as the state is facing economic doldrums, forcing additional taxes.
Rakhra, an MLA from Samana with assets worth Rs 20 crore, has invited the entire cabinet, all chief parliamentary secretaries and several known politicians from the state for the wedding. His niece Tina, a psychologist, is tying the knot with an American engineer.
Source said Badal would leave for the US on Monday for the wedding scheduled five days later. State assembly speaker Charanjit Singh Atwal has left the country and will join him in Wisconsin. Sources said public works minister Sharanjit Singh Dhillon, too, is in the US "to help in preparations".
Badal's son and deputy chief minister, Sukhbir Badal, is in Canada with a delegation and might join the wedding at the last minute. Finance minister Parminder Singh Dhindsa, who would be in London for Olympics, is also expected to join.
The Badals are seizing the moment to express their gratitude to their most prolific financer, while many of his cabinet colleagues are awaiting the CM "permission" to fly with him.
Education minister Sikander Singh Maluka and tourism minister Sarwan Singh Phillaur, who have got US visas, are among those awaiting the CM's nod. "I would go if I am allowed to go. But the only constraint is that if everybody leaves, who will stay back," said Maluka.
The wedding promises to be the usual big fat one, where Punjabi politicians are expected to rub shoulders with US Senate members besides other prominent American politicians.
Rakhra's brother Darshan Singh Dhaliwal, 58, had become the youngest Indian-American billionaire in 2003, owning over 1,000 gas stations across the USA and boasting an annual turnover of $2 billion, which is worth Punjab's annual budget. Known to be close to the Bush administration, Akali leaders have always been a regulars at his 30-acre ranch in Mequon near Milwaukee, where he once hosted Bill Clinton.
Rakhra, an MLA from Samana with assets worth Rs 20 crore, has invited the entire cabinet, all chief parliamentary secretaries and several known politicians from the state for the wedding. His niece Tina, a psychologist, is tying the knot with an American engineer.
Source said Badal would leave for the US on Monday for the wedding scheduled five days later. State assembly speaker Charanjit Singh Atwal has left the country and will join him in Wisconsin. Sources said public works minister Sharanjit Singh Dhillon, too, is in the US "to help in preparations".
Badal's son and deputy chief minister, Sukhbir Badal, is in Canada with a delegation and might join the wedding at the last minute. Finance minister Parminder Singh Dhindsa, who would be in London for Olympics, is also expected to join.
The Badals are seizing the moment to express their gratitude to their most prolific financer, while many of his cabinet colleagues are awaiting the CM "permission" to fly with him.
Education minister Sikander Singh Maluka and tourism minister Sarwan Singh Phillaur, who have got US visas, are among those awaiting the CM's nod. "I would go if I am allowed to go. But the only constraint is that if everybody leaves, who will stay back," said Maluka.
The wedding promises to be the usual big fat one, where Punjabi politicians are expected to rub shoulders with US Senate members besides other prominent American politicians.
Rakhra's brother Darshan Singh Dhaliwal, 58, had become the youngest Indian-American billionaire in 2003, owning over 1,000 gas stations across the USA and boasting an annual turnover of $2 billion, which is worth Punjab's annual budget. Known to be close to the Bush administration, Akali leaders have always been a regulars at his 30-acre ranch in Mequon near Milwaukee, where he once hosted Bill Clinton.
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