Chandigarh: Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann married Dr Gurpreet Kaur, a resident of Pehowa, district Kurukshetra (Haryana) in a simple and private ceremony amid tight security at his official residence here on Thursday.
This is Mann’s second marriage and Dr Kaur’s first. Mann, 48, divorced his first wife Inderpreet Kaur about six years ago who lives in US with their two children, a son and a daughter. Mann’s bride Dr Kaur is 29, according to media reports.
Besides Mann’s family members including his mother and sister and the family members of the bride, those who attended the wedding ceremony included Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) supremo and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal and a few other AAP leaders including Sanjay Singh and Raghav Chadha.
Performed in the traditional ensembles for the Anand Karaj ceremony solemnised as per Sikh rituals, Mann was seen wearing a golden kurta-pyjama set completed with a half-jacket and a yellow turban while his bride was in a heavily embellished bright red lehenga set with golden embroidery and gold jewellery including a choker, maang tikka, earrings, nath and bangles.
The four-season food menu on the occasion included popular traditional north Indian dishes such as karahi paneer, tandoori kulche, dal makhani, navratan biryani, mausami subzian, apricot stuffed kofta and burrani raita as well as Italian dish lasagna siciliano.
AN ARRANGED MARRIAGE
According to information, it was said to be an arranged marriage as Mann’s mother, Harpal Kaur, was acquainted with Kaur’s family for some time and that both of them had approved of the marriage but decided to inform their respective relatives at an appropriate time. It was also said that Mann and Dr Kaur were known to each other for about four years and that the latter had also campaigned with him in 2019 for his Lok Sabha election.
Daughter of Inderjit Singh, a Pehowa-based farmer, Dr Kaur is the youngest of three sisters her while her two sisters are settled abroad after getting married. One of her cousins is said to have been married to the son of the late Jaswinder Singh Sandhu who was a cabinet minister in the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) government in Haryana. One of her uncles also has a political background.
Kaur did her medical degree in 2017 from an Ambala-based medical college, and also practised in a hospital in Ambala. However, Kaur’s family was also said to have shifted to Mohali some months ago.
With this marriage, Mann has also become the first Punjab politician to get married while serving as chief minister.
