KOCHI: Ankita Kharat was crowned Manappuram Miss Queen of India, 2016 the other day at Gokulam Convention Centre, Kaloor. Eighteen beauties from different states participated in this event. Rashmita Gowda from Chikmagalur and Aishwarya Dinesh from Banglore were crowned first and second runner ups respectively. Kharat was crowned by last year’s winner Kanika Kapur. CEO of Manappuram Finance Ltd V P Nandakumar and Sushama Nandakumar crowned the first and second runners up.
The competition, which was directed by Ajit Ravi Pegasus, had 3 rounds- the designer saree, black cocktail and red gown. Noyonita Lodh, Niyati Joshi, Dr Rajeev Pillai and Toshma Biju were the judges.
Kharat won a purse of Rs 1.5 lakh besides the crown, while the first and second runners up bagged Rs60,000 and Rs 40,000 each. The prizes were sponsored by Wow factor and Beaumonde The Fern. The crowns were sponsored by Parakkat Jewellers.
The grooming for this competition began on April 22 at Beaumonde the Fern. The girls were groomed by an expert panel of fashion choreographers and trainers. The music for the grande finale was composed by DJ Harvey Steve.