Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann to tie the knot for the second time tomorrow

Chandigarh, July 06: Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann will tie the knot with Dr Gurpreet Kaur in a private ceremony on Thursday at his Chandigarh house. It is his second marriage.

Delhi Chief Minister and AAP National convener Arvind Kejriwal would attend the marriage ceremony.

Only family members, including Mann's mother, sister, relatives and a few guests will attend the wedding.

CM Mann has divorced his first wife six years ago. His 21-year-old daughter Seerat and 17-year-old son Dilshan from his first marriage had flown in from the US for the ceremony when he took oath as Punjab chief minister in March.

Bhagwant Mann had taken oath on March 16 as Punjab chief minister at a ceremony held in freedom fighter Bhagat Singh's village Khatkar Kalan village in Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar district. AAP had stormed to power in Punjab earlier this year winning 92 of the 117 Assembly seats.

Comedian turned politician Bhagwant Mann became an MP from Sangrur for the first time in 2014. His first wife Inderjit Kaur also campaigned for him.

In the later years, the couple drifted apart as he couldn't spend time with his family and was more involved in politics, a PTI report quoted Bhagwant Mann as saying.

Dr Kaur did her MBBS from a private university in Haryana four years ago. Her neighbours in Pehowa said they came to know through the media on Wednesday that Dr Gurpreet was getting married to the Punjab chief minister.

A neighbour told reporters that "we know the bride by the name of Gopi. It was only in the morning that we came to know she was getting married to the Punjab CM".

She had enrolled for MBBS in 2013 and completed that in 2018, said a neighbour in Pehowa. Vaneeta Behl, who also lives in her neighbourhood in Pehowa, told reporters that Dr Gurpreet was a kind-hearted, caring and a very intelligent young woman.

Many young girls in the neighbourhood said they were very happy that "Gopi Didi" was getting married and that too to a chief minister. Some of them claimed that Gurpreet was the youngest among three sisters.

State ministers Harpal Singh Cheema, Harjot Bains and Aman Arora as well as the party's senior leader Raghav Chadha congratulated Mann on Twitter.

"Heartiest Congratulations to Hon'ble CM @BhagwantMann for his new inning. My best wishes for his happily Married life. May God bless the couple," tweeted Cheema. "Wishing my Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann Ji a very happy and blessed married life ahead. I wish them both a lifetime of love, respect and companionship," Bains said.

Arora congratulated Mann for starting married life and wished "both a life full of happiness, joy, love, prosperity, health and companionship. May the almighty shower His blessings on both of you".

Senior AAP leader Raghav Chadha gave his best wishes to Mann and his would-be wife. "Best wishes to my 'vadde veer' (elder brother) Mann Saab and Dr Gurpreet Kaur for a happy and blessed married life," tweeted Chadha.

Responding to a tweet that one thought Raghav Chadha was the most eligible bachelor in AAP, the Rajya Sabha MP while referring to Mann marrying on Thursday, wrote, "Chhote da number vadde ton baad hi aunda hai (junior's turn comes after the elder one)".