Kerala’s 19-year-old Kaziah Liz Mejo has been crowned Miss Universe India 2026, earning the opportunity to represent India at the 75th Miss Universe pageant in Puerto Rico this November, writes NDTV.
Mejo won the national title after competing against 52 finalists from across the country at the grand finale held at Zee Studios in Jaipur on Sunday.
Miss Universe India 2025 Manika Vishwakarma crowned her successor.
Speaking after her victory, Mejo described the moment as the culmination of more than three years of hard work.
“I feel so on top of the world. This is such an iconic moment and the moment that I’ve worked for for over three years now,” she said.
“I’m so incredibly happy that I get to bring home this crown to my Kerala, to be able to show my hometown to the world, to be able to carry it to the Universe.”
The young beauty queen also spoke about the personal challenges she faced during her journey.
According to Mejo, her biggest struggle was learning to believe in herself.
“I believe that the most difficult struggle that you face will always be within, and that is to believe that you are worth more than what you think,” she said.
She added that competing on such a major stage at just 19 required considerable courage and self-belief.
Looking ahead to the international competition, Mejo said her biggest ambition is to bring the Miss Universe crown back to India.
“My first plan is to bring home the crown of Miss Universe to India, and that will always be my biggest plan in life,” she said.
“In everything I do, I want to be able to represent India, I want to be able to represent Kerala, and I want to be able to represent what it means to be India.”
The judging panel for the finale featured India’s first Miss Universe, Sushmita Sen, former Miss Universe India Urvashi Rautela, Miss Universe India 2024 Rhea Singha and environmentalist and film producer Pragya Kapoor.
Former Miss India Universe and Miss Universe runner-up Celina Jaitly also served on the panel.
Vaishnavi Gannesh was named the first runner-up and will represent India at Miss International 2026.
Anushri Satavlekar finished as the second runner-up, followed by Tejaswini Shrivastava as the third runner-up and Anubha Vashist Chaudhary as the fourth runner-up.
Mejo will now turn her attention to the Miss Universe 2026 competition, where she will compete against contestants from around the world in Puerto Rico in November.
