Chandigarh Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann, 48, was all smiles as he married Dr Gurpreet Kaur, 28, with Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha among dignitaries present at a low-key ceremony in Chandigarh on Thursday.
Wearing a beige kurta-pyjama and Nehru jacket with his signature yellow turban, the CM performed the wedding rituals part of the Sikh ceremony of Anand Karaj with Kaur, dressed in a traditional maroon bridal ensemble.
Mann became the first serving chief minister in Punjab to tie knot while in office. The event was also the first wedding ceremony performed at the state chief minister’s official residence in Sector 2 of Chandigarh.
Kaur shared a picture of herself as a bride on Twitter and wrote, “Din Shagna Da Chadya (The wedding day has arrived)”. She thanked Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders for their congratulatory messages.
Only close family members from either side attended the Anand Karaj, along with Kejriwal who attended with his wife and daughter, Chadha and his mother, and senior AAP leader Sanjay Singh. No minister from Mann’s cabinet, MLA or official was invited.
Chadha, who earlier tweeted, “Sade Veer Da Vyah Sanu Gode Gode Chaa (it’s our brother’s wedding and we’re chuffed)”, was seen escorting Mann along with close friends as he arrived for the Anand Karaj under a phulkaari (handwoven canopy).
{{/usCountry}}Chadha, who earlier tweeted, “Sade Veer Da Vyah Sanu Gode Gode Chaa (it’s our brother’s wedding and we’re chuffed)”, was seen escorting Mann along with close friends as he arrived for the Anand Karaj under a phulkaari (handwoven canopy).
{{/usCountry}}A video of the ceremony widely shared on social media showed Mann cracking jokes with his sisters-in-law at the ribbon-cutting ceremony and offering them two rings and other gifts.
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Talking to reporters, Chadha said, “A new chapter in CM 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 added.
This was Mann’s second marriage, six years after he divorced his first wife, who now lives in the US with their two children -- daughter Seerat Kaur, 21, and son Dilshan, 17.
Kaur, from Pehowa in Haryana’s Kurukshetra district, lives with her family in Punjab’s Rajpura. She completed her MBBS degree from a private university in Haryana in 2019. She has two older sisters, both living abroad.