New York: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal have been voted among the 100 most influential people in the world in an online poll by readers of Time magazine.
Russian President Vladimir Putin emerged the winner of this year’s Time 100 readers’ poll. He edged out rapper-singer CL (of the South Korean girl-group 2NE1) to claim the number one spot with 6.95 per cent of the votes in the final tally. Pop stars Lady Gaga (2.6 per cent), Rihanna (1.9 per cent) and Taylor Swift (1.8 per cent) rounded out the top five.
The online vote included people from politics, entertainment, business, technology, science, religion and other fields who “changed the world this past year, for better or worse. Although the Time magazine termed Prime Minister Modi as “populist”, he managed to garner just 0.6 per cent of the votes cast, with only 34 per cent of the people voting in his favour and 66 per cent against.
“He has rolled out key economic reforms and restored close ties with the US, hosting US President Barack Obama in January after a “rock star” visit to the US last year”, Time said.
Speaking on Kejriwal, Time said that after a brief stint as chief minister of Delhi in 2013, he has led his anti-establishment Aam Aadmi Party in a “rout of both leading national parties in Delhi assembly election.”
Kejriwal managed to grab 0.5 per cent of the votes cast, with 71 per cent voters saying he should not be in the list. BJP President Amit Shah was also on the initial list but failed to garner enough votes to make it to the top 100.
Other winners of the online poll include US presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton, the Dalai Lama, Harry Potter actress Emma Watson, Nobel peace prize winner Malala Yousafzai, Pope Francis, Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Apple CEO Tim Cook and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Amongst the set of Indian-origin personalities who found a place in the online poll was, Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, a health care reform advocate who was elected to his post amid opposition from the national rifle association.
Microsoft’s India-born chief Satya Nadella,also managed to make it to the list of influencers. Time said that he had revitalised the “moribund” software company by introducing new ideas like Office for iPads and prototype virtual reality headset.
The winners of the online poll include Rapper Kanye West, media mogul Oprah Winfrey, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Yahoo CEO Marisa Mayer. More than half of the votes – 57.38 per cent – were cast within the US. Canada and the UK followed with 5.54 per cent and 4.55 per cent respectively.
Bureau Report
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