Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president L.K. Advani donned a non-political robe here Friday, blessing 691 poor couples married at a state-organised ceremony.

The marriages were arranged at the Birsa Stadium for 346 tribal, 180 Hindu, 128 Christian and 29 Muslim girls whose families were below the poverty line.

Organised under the Mukhya Mantri Kanyadaan Yojana (Chief Minister Marriage Scheme), the arrangements for the ceremony were overseen by Meera Munda, wife of Chief Minister Arjun Munda, who started the scheme.

"It feels great to attend this mass marriage," said Advani, coming here straight from the BJP national executive meeting, which concluded Friday.

Also present on the occasion was Smriti Irani, a BJP member and actress widely regarded as an "ideal daughter-in-law" for her role in a TV serial.

Advani asked Irani to give the newly-married couples tips for successful marriage.

Irani stressed the need for female literacy and asked the grooms to support their brides all their lives.

For the couples themselves, the marriage could not have been more extravagant.

"I had never thought people of such stature will bless us on our marriage," said Somari, one of the brides.

"It is indeed a great feeling to be married in the presence of Advani and Irani."

Haridas Munda, the father of one of the brides, thanked the government for organising the ceremony. "I could not have arranged the marriage of my daughter on my own," he said.

Nearly 5,000 girls have been married under the scheme since it was started earlier this year.

The government has allocated Rs.100 million ($2.2 million) for the scheme. Couples married under the scheme are gifted a number of domestic articles like utensils, gas cylinders and some jewellery, besides Rs.5,000 ($110) in cash, to start their new lives.

--Indo-Asian News Service