IANS
 
Bhopal, Apr 25: A mass marriage event for poor girls on the auspicious occasion of Akshay Tritiya may just turn inauspicious for Madhya Pradesh's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) after a minister hosted "indecent" dances.

The government-sponsored mass weddings of 101 poor girls were solemnised in Garakota town in Sagar district under the Kanyadaan Yojana (Girl marriage scheme) on April 20.

Madhya Pradesh Minister for Cooperatives Gopal Bhargava promised zordaar (grand) celebrations", which included erotic performances by the state's tribal dancers, in Sagar.

"Please remember to come, because on this day heroine Aishwarya Rai and actor Abhishek Bachchan will get married. This wedding will be no less. You will be able to decide which one is more colourful - Bachchans' or of the poor girls," read the invitation card.

However, the celebrations included the Rai dance, which simulates sexual movements. Apparently, it offended participants and invitees alike.

Rai is traditionally performed by sex workers from the Bundelkhand region. The minister was also reportedly caught on camera distributing wads of notes.

Congress party spokesman Manak Agarwal said his party would ask Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan to sack Bhargava.

Describing Bhargava's conduct as inappropriate, Agarwal said: "The minister not only sat through the indecent dance but even invited people to participate in it."

Under the mass wedding scheme, introduced in the state last year, Rs 5,000 is paid to each girl for start a new home. A sum of Rs 1,000 per girl is also paid to the organiser to make the wedding arrangements.

As many as 10,000 marriages, incurring a cumulative expense of Rs 60 million, were solemnised under the scheme April 20, officials said.

A maximum of 923 marriages were performed in Gwalior, followed by 600 in Chhindwara, 430 in Shivpuri, 220 in Sehore, 272 in Narsinghpur, 155 in Anuppur, 115 in Jabalpur, 111 in Morena, 100 in Burhanpur, 70 in Indore and 101 in Sagar.