Source: Star TV, December 13, 2000
NEW DELHI, INDIA: In a nationwide broadcast, UP Chief Minister Raj Nath Singh, declared, “We will not allow holding of beauty contests in the state of Uttar Pradesh as they are indecent. Showing bare bodies is not a part of our culture and tradition. Beauty is something which is given by nature and there should be no competition about it.” For the beauty and fashion trade of Uttar Pradesh the chief minister’s announcement has come as a rude shock. Star TV interviewed some such people who condemned the UP chief minister for enforcing this kind of cultural policing in the state. Of late Indian contestants have won several international beauty contests.