Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann is set to marry Gurpreet Kaur tomorrow. The comedian-turned-politician was previously married to Inderjeet Kaur and the couple have a son and daughter together.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) member of Parliament and his wife divorced in 2015, at which time, Mann made it clear it was a personal matter.
He claimed that he’s chosen “Punjab over family”, and as is his habit, Mann shared the news of the divorce proceedings being finalized, via a poem.
“Jo latkeya si chiran ton o hal ho geya, Court ch eh faisla kal ho geya, Ek passay parivar, dujje passay si parivar, Main tan yarro Punjab de wal ho geya”, he said, which translates to, “A long-pending issue has been resolved. The court decided yesterday. I had to choose between one family and the other. I decided to go with Punjab”.
Also Read | Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi resigns as Union Minister of Minority Affairs
However, Kaur had always been part of Mann’s political life, from back when he was in the Peoples’ Party of Punjab (PPP). She accompanied him on political rallies, delivered speeches favouring Mann in the Sangrur villages during the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, and stood by him outside the counting centre on the 2014 election result day.
Kaur, who hails from Barewal in Ludhiana, has kept Mann in her prayers, as evidenced by what she told The Indian Express when the AAP candidate won the Punjab polls. “I always worked hard for his success but behind his back. I have never said anything bad for him from my side. He was always in my prayers for all these years and will always continue to be. Yes, there were physical distances but that doesn’t mean we were not praying for his success. It’s just that I was busy here in the US with my work and children’s studies”, she said.
Also Read | Great Depression to COVID: Top 5 market crashes in American history
Mann’s children moved to the US with Kaur, after the couple split, but the family had flown in to attend Mann’s swearing-in ceremony.
As for the Punjab CM, he’d said in earlier interviews that he feels heavy in his heart to find an empty home after returning from work.