In West Bengal's Birbhum district, a businessman threw a grand wedding for his daughter, attracting celebrities from the Hindi and Bengali film industry. The extravagant affair led many to compare it to the high-profile wedding of billionaire Mukesh Ambani's son Anand Ambani.
However, the lavish event has sparked political controversy, and questions have been raised about the source of the substantial funds spent on the celebration.
Tulu Mandal, a businessman from West Bengal's Birbhum district, is reportedly close to Trinamool Congress Birbhum chief Anubrata Mondal, who was arrested in 2022 in connection with cow smuggling.
Mandal, a stone dealer, has also been accused of being involved in cattle smuggling. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) raided his residence in August 2022 and later summoned him to Delhi for questioning.
On December 28, Mandal threw a lavish wedding ceremony for his daughter in Birbhum's Suri town. The grand event was held at a venue modeled after the five-star Taj Lake Palace in Udaipur.
The wedding was attended by prominent personalities including Bollywood actor and director Arbaaz Khan, actress Sarine Khan and singer Monali Thakur and Bengali film stars Ankush Hazra, Sumit Ganguly and Darshana Banik.
Singer Monali Thakur performed at the lavish wedding, and actor Ankush Hazra, who was in attendance, said, “I can't talk about it… it's just a career journey.”
Reports indicate that hotels across Suri city and Berbum district are fully booked to accommodate the guests attending the event.
Meanwhile, the BJP and Left parties have slammed the businessman, alleging that he is also a member of the Trinamool Congress.
Birbhum BJP leader Dhruba Saha expressed doubts about the event, saying, “I don't know about the budget, but I am surprised that Salman Khan's brother is attending a wedding in Birbhum for the first time. It's amazing to have such high-profile guests. Attending a local wedding.” I suspect there may be unaccounted money in play.
He further alleged, “We all know Tulu Mondal's Trinamool Congress links, his house has been raided by agencies before. I also hear that the groom's family has links to cow smuggling.”
CPI(M) district secretary Goutam Ghosh raised concerns about the financial resources of the Tulu mandal, saying, “I am not interested in his past actions, but the administration and the police should question how they gave him such an extravagant wedding.”
He added that how can they spend so much if they are not related to Trinamool, we cannot deny that Trinamool leaders have illegal sources of income to spend money like this. From his income, a lot of expenses were incurred for this wedding.”