By Puja Gupta

New Delhi, Nov 23 (IANSlife): The annual beauty pageant Mrs Delhi NCR aimed to support women empowerment and spread awareness about breast cancer this year.

Aakriti Sambyal and Meghna Puri won the competition and were crowned at the grand finale recently held in the Gurugram.

Group A Winner Sambyal said: "I am feeling great and proud of winning the crown of Mrs Delhi NCR. It was a wonderful experience and an opportunity to meet and make new friends. All the candidates are equally talented and competing with them is an honour. Since the pageant focuses on breast cancer awareness, I look forward to participating in similar programmes."

The contest saw more than 400 applications and 800 candidates appearing for the auditions, out of which over 100 contestants were shortlisted. All the final contestants who walked the ramp were wearing collections by Chetan Veena Fashion Couture from Hyderabad and the evening gown collections designed by Aenna Sharma.

Barkha Nangia, Director – Glamour Gurgaon, who conceptualized the event said: "This year saw unexpected circumstances that took the entire world by the storm. To contain the spread of Covid 19, we all were confined to our houses. This year has been a tough year for all of us and was a testing time for women. Despite all the odds, they stood high and handled all the aspects of their life. This pageant celebrates the essence of womanhood in the modern world and also pays the tribute to the women and all the frontline fighters of COVID 19."

She further added: "Mrs Delhi-NCR strives to instill the confidence and empower women to be a better contributor to society. The finalists are the crème de la crème from among several who auditioned to fulfill their dream and be a responsible citizen of this society."