Lucknow, Jan 15 (IANS) Even as her 56th birthday celebrations here Sunday remained a low-key affair with the usual fanfare missing, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati did not shy away from displaying her favourite solitaires and diamonds which have been a key part of her past functions.

A thick diamond necklace with matching solitaire tops and a well studded ring made the set complete, even as the sparkling bluish stones kept playing hide and seek on account of the pink ‘chunni’ and high-neck brown long-coat that she wore on a bright and sunny winter noon.

Also what could not be missed was her pink silk brocade salwar-suit, again a regular fixture at her successive birthdays.

The entire Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) office was well decorated and brightly lit up for the occasion. Not only were the 18-feet tall blue gates adorned with thick marigold garlands, a red carpet was laid down for the chief minister’s motorcade.

A replica of huge elephant tusks flanked the passage, while the hall inside was bedecked in gladioli, marigold and red roses.

The one km road from her official residence to the party office on the plush Mahatma Gandhi Marg was washed well before her motorcade drove in. A huge security ring surrounded the premises, developed on a sprawling 1,10,000 sq feet plot of land created after demolition of two bungalows earmarked for ministers.

Even as Mayawati avoided cutting cake before the media, cake slices were served lavishly by smartly turned out waiters from Taj Vivanta, that had laid a vast spread for a grand lunch that followed.