The Trinamul Congress organised three mass wedding ceremonies in Alipurduar district on Monday after the Vishwa Hindu Parishad had failed to hold a similar programme because of absence of administrative permission.

Sources said the Srihari Sath Sangh, a wing of the VHP, along with the Alipurduar Gana Bibaha Samiti, had planned to assemble around 200 couples from across the district here on Monday and hold their weddings.

Police and the administration contacted the organisers and asked them to cancel the event as no permission had been obtained. The organisers dismantled the pandal for the mass wedding at a ground here and stopped public announcement of the event on Sunday.

The couples who were supposed to get married became disappointed. Many of them were supposed reach Alipurduar town from tea gardens and villages.

Trinamul leaders in Alipurduar 1 and 2 blocks promptly took the task of organising their marriages at three venues.

Arrangements were made at Majherdabri and Beltala in Alipurduar 2 block and at Mathura in Alipurduar 1 block.

Party workers were engaged at different places to trace the brides and grooms and guide them to the nearest venue of the mass marriage. Trinamul leaders quickly obtained permission from the BDOs for the programmes.

At the two venues in the Alipurduar block, 190 pairs got married. At Mathura, another 15 couples tied the nuptial knots.

The brides and the grooms were handed the clothes for the occasion. Elaborate arrangements were made at each venue with a number of priests chanting hymns.

A lunch was also served by the organisers to the newly-wed and their friends and relatives.

Ajay Minz, a youth from Kumargram who got married, said: “We came to know the mass wedding in Alipurduar town and started from home with my friends. The bride also started with her family. On way, some people stopped us and asked us to go to Majherdabri and said the event at Alipurduar had been cancelled. We were initially upset. But upon reaching the new venue, we found that all arrangements had been made.”

Debajit Sarkar, the president of Alipurduar 2 block Trinamul, said: “We had to toil hard but managed to make the arrangements on time. The couples were happy.”