Punjab CM starts second innings, marries doctor Kaur
Darpan News Desk IANS, 07 Jul, 2022 11:14 AM
Chandigarh, July 7 (IANS) Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Thursday tied the knot with Gurpreet Kaur, a doctor from Haryana, in a low-key small private ceremony as per Sikh rituals at his official residence here amidst the presence of Delhi Chief Minister and AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal.
It is for the first time that a marriage ceremony was solemnised in the Chief Minister's residence.
Mann, 48, divorced his first wife Inderpreet Kaur in 2015. He has two children from that marriage -- daughter Seerat Kaur Mann (21) and son Dilshan Singh Mann (17), who attended Mann's swearing-in ceremony on March 16.
The Chief Minister made a surprise wedding announcement a day earlier. It is believed to be an arranged marriage.
Donning golden attire and a yellow turban with traditional studded 'kalgi' atop, groom Mann arrived for the wedding under a Phulkari 'dupatta' with AAP Rajya Sabha member Raghav Chadha, Kejriwal and a select few AAP senior leaders walking beside him.
Kejriwal performed the wedding rituals as Mann's elder brother.
A ribbon-cutting ceremony was also performed with the bride's women friends blocking the entrance of the marriage venue.
After the conclusion of Anand Karaj ceremony, the couple took blessings of those present at the wedding.
Bride Kaur, 32, an MBBS degree holder from Maharishi Markandeshwar University in Mullana in Ambala district, is the youngest of three sisters. The elder ones are settled in the US and Australia.
Just hours before tying the knot, Mann's would-be bride said the auspicious day has come.
"Din Shagna Da Chadyaa (the auspicious day has come (for her wedding)," Kaur tweeted and also posted her photo.
Only close family members, including Mann's mother, sister and a few relatives and friends attended the wedding.
Speaking to the media before attending the wedding, Kejriwal said his younger brother Bhagwant Mann is getting married and embarking on a new journey.
"My younger brother is getting married and embarking on a new journey. My best wishes to him," Kejriwal told the media at the Chandigarh airport.
Responding to Mann's wedding, AAP Rajya Sabha MP Chadha told the media here, "Happiness is back in Bhagwant Mann's house after a long time."
An elated Chadha added, "Saade veer da vyah, sanu gode gode chah (My brother is getting married, I am extremely happy)."
He shared a picture on Twitter with Mann, who was seen in wedding golden attire donning a yellow turban.
Consul General of Canada in Chandigarh, Patrick Hebert, greeted the Chief Minister by tweeting, "Beautiful day for a wedding in #Chandigarh. Congratulations to Chief Minister @BhagwantMann and @DrGurpreetKaur_and best wishes for a happy life!"
The food menu for the wedding included karahi paneer, lasagna Siciliano, tandoori kulche, dal makhani, navratan biryani, apricot stuffed kofta and Burrani Raita.
A variety of lip-smacking sweets included fresh fruit trifle, moong dal halwa, angoori rasmalai and rabari.
Demanding the MSP of wheat to be fixed at Rs 2,830 per quintal (as against present Rs 2,015 per quintal), Amarinder Singh said the farmers should not be forced to subsidise the consumers, which they have been doing since long.
Amarinder Singh said MP Pratap Bajwa had already demanded a district status for Batala, in his letter dated August 11 and had cited Batala's historic importance and its connection with Guru Nanak Dev, who had married Mata Sulakhni in Batala in 1487.
A source in the security set up said that Srinagar alone recorded 16 terror-related incidents, 21 per cent of the total of 75 incidents reported from across the Valley till so far this year, leaving behind the traditional hotbed of terrorism of Pulwama, Anantnag and Shopian.
Congress chief spokesperson, Randeep Surjewala said in a statement, "The Khattar government has lost the confidence and the mandate of the people and it should leave. When your party can talk to the Taliban, why not farmers."
Researchers from National Centre for Disease Control, Delhi, under the Ministry of Health; CSIR Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology, Delhi, and University of Cambridge in the UK examined how the Delta variant was able to evade the immune response.
Senior Superintendent of Police Swapan Sharma told the media that Babbi was in touch with the members of the Ajaib Khan gang lodged in a Sangrur jail with whom he had hatched a conspiracy to eliminate rival gangsters Mani Sheron and Feteh Nagri.
