Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Thursday tied the knot with Kurukshetra’s Dr Gurpreet Kaur at his Chandigarh’s Sector-2 official residence in a private ceremony without the usual crowd.
Having almost all the ingredients of Punjabi wedding — right from phulkaris to Punjabi sithniyaan (traditional songs) and giddha, to ghee-laden lip-smacking delicacies — though sans dhol and large crowds, Mann and Dr Gurpereet’s simple wedding witnessed all celebrations and wedding customs that’s part of a big fat Punjabi wedding.
The two tied the nuptial knot in the Anand Karaj ceremony, witnessed by Aam Aadmi Party’s national convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who also performed some wedding rituals as Mann’s father. AAP’s Rajya Sabha MPs — Raghav Chadha and Sanjay Singh — were also part of the selected gathering at the ceremony.
The 48-year-old Mann wore a golden kurta-pyjama set complete with a matching half-jacket and his trademark yellow turban, decked with “kalgi”. His 32-year-old doctor-wife, Gurpreet, was looking resplendent as a traditional Sikh bride in a heavily embellished bright red lehenga with all-over golden embroidery, accessorising the look with heavy gold jewellery including a maang tikka, nath, and bangles.
This is Mann’s second marriage, and is believed to be an arranged alliance. Though the two knew each other since 2019, it is believed that Mann’s mother Harpal Kaur, and sister Manpreet Kaur played the role of matchmakers for the two.
Mann separated from his first wife, Harpreet Kaur, in 2015 — they have two children, daughter Seerat Kaur (21) and son Dilshan (17)
The food menu for the wedding entailed popular north Indian dishes such as karahi paneer, tandoori kulche, dal makhani, Navratan biryani, mausami subzian, apricot-stuffed kofta, along with Lasagna Siciliano, and Burrani Raita.
Among the several pictures shared by Raghav Chadha, and others, Mann was seen walking under a ‘phulkari dupatta’ held up by Chadha among others, and at the ceremony. In another picture, both Mann and Kaur could be seen smiling, while another showed them sitting together for lunch post the wedding rituals.
One of Chadha’s post showed Mann and himself on a sofa. He quoted a Punjabi song of celebration, “Saade veer da vyah, Saanu gode gode chah”, as the caption.
Kejriwal also took to Twitter to congratulate the couple after the wedding, “Wishing Bhagwant Mann and Gurpreet Bhabhi for marriage”.
Bride Gurpreet Kaur also shared pictures of herself on Twitter. She also thanked AAP leaders for their congratulatory messages.
Tight security arrangements were in place at the Chief Minister’s residence.
According to party insiders, the wedding, being solemnised according to the Sikh rituals, was attended by Mann’s mother and sister and just a few guests, including Kejriwal and his family.
Before the wedding, Kejriwal told reporters at the airport, “Today is a day of immense happiness that my younger brother and Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann ji is getting married and is making a new beginning. May God bless him with a happy married life and both (the couple) always remain happy.”
Chadha said: “A new chapter in Bhagwant Mann’s life is going to start today. I congratulate Mann saab’s family, his mother and sister. It will be a small function. Only family members will attend.”
“We all are happy that happiness has returned to Mann saab’s family after a long time. It was his mother’s dream to see her son getting settled again. Today, that dream is going to come true,” he told reporters.
Gurpreet Kaur completed her MBBS from a private university in Haryana in 2018. She is youngest among three sisters. Both her elder sisters are settled abroad.