New Delhi: Not many of you may know this. What do Lakshmi Pandit and Kalpana Pandit have in common? Both are sisters, both are doctors and most importantly both once wore the Miss India Crown and both 'LOST it due to controversies. Lakshmi was forced to hand back her tiara hours after the ceremony amid claims that she wasn't as single as she made out. Lakshmi denied being married, but admitted that she may have misrepresented her marital status while buying an apartment in Mumbai. "In view of my incorrect statement... I surrender the Miss India World 2004 title with great personal regret," she said. Pandit's older sister Kalpana was stripped of her Miss India-Universe crown in 1989 when it was discovered that she was a US passport holder. Kalpana Pandit was crowned Miss India Universe 1989 but was dethroned and stripped of her title one day later due to misrepresenting her nationality, she held an American passport. She later went onto win Miss Iowa USA 1994 and was a contestant in Miss USA 1994 under the name 'Callie Pandit'. 15-years later her younger sister Lakshmi Pandit was crowned Miss India World 2004 and also bagged the Miss Photogenic and Miss Perfect 10/best body award but then had to return the crown. Lakshmi was also a Miss India 2002 contestant who reached the top 9. She was later selected for the glad rags mega model 2003 contest but dropped out and went for the Miss India 2004 contest. However Lakshmi was not married and nor did she lie about her age. However she did tell her landlady that she was married only so that she could rent the apartment. Many believe the sisters are jinxed. They are hardly strangers, coming as they do from the famous Nanjangud B.V. Pandit family, manufacturers of Ayurvedic tooth powder and Madurai agarbathi and a family of Doctors... both Kalpana and Lakshmi are doctors. It's a very strange case of two sisters losing the same crown that has not happened anywhere else in the world.
Updated on: September 25, 2013 6:38 IST
