On 7th March, on the eve of “International Woman’s Day”, Mumbai Mahila Congress President Ajanta Yadav took to Twitter to share pictures of her and her team felicitating the newly crowned VLCC Femina Miss India 2020 runner-up Manya Singh.
Tagging Congress chief Rahul Gandhi, the ‘torchbearer’ of women equality and empowerment and other members of the grand old party, the Congress Mahila President Tweeted: “On occasion of eve of “International Woman’s Day” I and My Team Mumbai Mahila Congress felicitated Manya Singh VLCC Femina Miss India 2020 Runner Up at her residence Wishing her “All the best for a very bright future’.
Now, Manya Singh’s father has accused the Congress leader of pulling off a cheap stunt with his daughter for publicity. Omprakash Singh has alleged that Congress leader Ajanta Yadav gave a gift bag to his daughter, which even had a tag of Mumbai Mahila Congress attached to it, with nothing but scraps of paper stuffed in it. Moreover, it also had torn pictures of Manya.
Speaking to the media, Omprakash showed the gift bag given by the Congress leader and emptied its contents to show scraps of paper crumbled inside it.
Manya Singh, an auto-rickshaw driver’s daughter
Manya Singh, the runner up to Femina Miss India 2020, who hails from Kushinagar, Uttar Pradesh, could not win Miss India 2020 crown but she did win people’s hearts with her sheer hard work and perseverance. Her story is an inspiration for all the women who were not born with a silver spoon.
Manya Singh’s father is an auto-rickshaw-driver. She revealed how she went without food and sleep for many nights. She said that she could not attend school as she started working when he was just a teenager. “All the clothes I had were hand-me-downs. I yearned for books, but luck wasn’t in my favour. Eventually, my parents mortgaged whatever little jewellery my mother had to ensure that I paid my exam fees in order to earn a degree”, she said describing her struggles.
Manya Singh took up odd jobs like dishwashing, working part-time at a restaurant, skipping meals and walking miles to save money. She ran away to Mumbai at the age of 14 to pursue her dreams. Her parents supported her decision and also shifted to Mumbai.