Diana Hayden No Miss World, It's A Joke, Says Tripura Chief Minister

Guwahati: Tripura's new Chief Minister Biplab Deb, who has been in the news twice in the last two weeks for the wrong reasons, on Thursday did an encore. The 47-year-old this time took on Diana Hayden, the Miss World for the year 1997. He also launched a blistering attack on the fashion industry and jeered at women who are "foxed by marketing and advertisements".

Speaking at a programme in Agartala, Mr Deb tarred everyone from "the International fashion designing in Paris", "international textile" and the cosmetic industry.

But his best barbs were reserved for Ms Hayden, who, he said, was not worthy of the crown and was merely chosen for business reasons by what he called the "international fashion mafias".

"Even Dayna Hayden got it (the world title). See, everyone is laughing. Tell me, was Diana Hayden supposed to get it? Aishwarya Rai got it. That's justified, because she carries the essence of the beauty of Indian women. Indian beauty is all about Goddess Laxmi, Goddess Saraswati... Diana Hayden does not fit to that class of beauty," he said. Then he added a disclaimer - "I am not opposing her though".

Indians don't win International pageants now, he declared, completely missing the fact that Haryana's Manushi Chillar won the Miss World title last year.

The reason, he said was the market has been saturated by beauty products. "In entire Tripura, I see so many beauty parlours, it is an industry, it is a business," he said.

The remedy? Make marketing of Indian products strong, he said.

While he did not specify any product, Mr Deb -- who earlier declared himself a believer in nationalism -- did point out that in ancient times, mud and methi water were the tried and tested items.

Over the last two weeks, Mr Deb has claimed there were internet and satellite communication system in Mahabharata era, stood by the claim, and said Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee needs "mental treatment".