NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh surprised his rumoured girl friend, fashion designer Gurkiran Kaur, by popping the question at a private party in Toronto on Tuesday.
The event took place in a vegetarian restaurant just blocks away from the Ontario legislature where Singh served as a provincial legislator for six years. Though he was elected as party leader he still does not have a federal seat in the parliament.
“She said yes,” the 38-year-old Sikh origin New Democratic Party leader tweeted on Tuesday sharing two photos of him and his fiancée.
Kaur later said she and Singh had already discussed getting engaged but did not know when and where he was planning to pop the question. Along with friends and family, Singh invited several members of the media, to witness the surprise proposal Tuesday night.
Singh — the first minority community politician to lead a federal party in Canada — stayed mum about his love life during the recent NDP leadership race. He had been guarded about his personal life, but social media posts in December made headlines after it was reported he and Kaur were engaged. The couple shot down the rumours, saying it was instead a “rokha” — a traditional Punjabi ceremony held ahead of a wedding and usually attended by close family.
The turbaned Sikh says he’s not the type of person to be open about his private life and admits that handling national media attention has been a transition for both he and Kaur.
Singh’s passion for fashion caught the attention of GQ magazine, which described him as “the incredibly well-dressed rising star in Canadian politics.” He favours colourful turbans and exquisitely-tailored suits.
Singh had been bullied as a youngster and took up martial arts to defend himself, going on to captain his high school wrestling team and winning the Toronto championships in Brazilian jiu-jitsu.
His parents sent him to live in Detroit hoping to put an end to the bullying. After completing high school in the US, Singh went on to graduate from the University of Western Ontario in 2001 with a Bachelor of Science and then a Bachelor of Laws degree from York University’s Osgoode Hall Law School in 2005.
Bollywood dance style Instagram photo we use here is by wedding photographer Gagandeep Singh.(Courtesy: gaganshooter/instagram)
