Thimphu: Congress General Secretary Rahul
Gandhi, a close friend of Bhutan King Jigmey Khesar Namgyal
Wangchuck, is among the monarch's "personal invitees" to his
wedding with commoner Jetsun Pema on Thursday and is expected to
attend the event in the historic city of Punakha near here.
Gandhi had attended the coronation of Wangchuck in
November 2008 along with his mother and Congress President
Sonia Gandhi and sister Priyanka.
"Rahul Gandhi's name figures in the list of special
invitees participating in the royal wedding tomorrow,"
highly-placed sources told agency here today.
Rahul is "a special guest" of Wangchuck, they said,
adding he would be coming here "in his personal capacity as
the friend of the King."
The sources said Rahul and the King share a "special
relationship". It is expected that the young Congress leader
would attend the wedding that would take place in a stunning
fortress in Punakha, 71 km from here.
However, there was no word on when Rahul would arrive
here for the wedding.
"The Gandhi family has had a special kinship with the
royal family ever since the time of Prime Minister Jawaharlal
Nehru and it continues even now. The entire Gandhi family had
attended the coronation (of Wangchuck)," the sources said.
India's Ambassador to Bhutan Pavan K Varma and West
Bengal Governor M K Narayanan will attend the event, which
will be telecast live by Bhutan Broadcasting Service TV to
enable the 7 lakh people of the tiny nation to witness it.
PTI
First Published: Wednesday, October 12, 2011, 19:33