Modi, Kejriwal in TIME readers' poll of 100 most influential people

Russian President Vladimir Putin tops the list; the TIME 100 list, compiled by the editors, to be unveiled on Thursday

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal figure among the world’s 100 most influential personalities, according to an online poll conducted by the TIME magazine among its readers. 

In the readers’ poll, Modi received 0.6 per cent of the total votes polled, with 34 per cent voting in his favour and 66 per cent against. 

Kejriwal, who had unsuccessfully contested against Modi from the Varanasi constituency in the May 2014 Lok Sabha elections, received 0.5 per cent of total votes, with 71 per cent saying he should not be in the TIME 100 Readers’ Poll. 

Bharatiya Janata Party President Amit Shah, too, was in the initial list but failed to make it to the top 100.

The TIME readers poll, for which voting closed on April 10, is different from the TIME 100 annual list of 100 most influential people in the world. In the readers’ poll, TIME’s readers are asked to vote for those who “changed the world this past year, for better or worse”. 

The TIME 100 list, compiled by the magazine’s editors and spanning politics, entertainment, business, technology, science, religion and other fields, will be unveiled on Thursday. 

Russian President Vladimir Putin topped the list of personalities is the readers’ poll. “Putin 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, Rihanna and Taylor Swift rounded out the top five, with 2.6 per cent, 1.9 per cent and 1.8 per cent of the votes, respectively,” TIME said in a report posted on its website. 

Among other winners in the readers’ poll are US President Barack Obama, First Lady Michelle Obama, US Presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton, the Dalai Lama, Hollywood actress Emma Watson, Nobel peace prize winner Malala Yousafzai, Pope Francis, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, Apple CEO Tim Cook, and Chinese President Xi Jinping. 

Others with Indian connection in the readers’ poll are Microsoft chief Satyam Nadella, US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy. 

Notably, as many as 58 per cent of the votes were cast from within the US. 

TIME termed Modi a ‘populist’ leader, who swept to power last year on a pledge to boost India’s economic punch, rolling out key economic reforms and restoring close ties with the US. He hosted US President Barack Obama in January this year after a “rock star” visit to the US in 2014, they said.

On Kejriwal, TIME said after a brief stint as CM of Delhi in 2013, he led his anti-establishment Aam Aadmi Party in a “rout of both leading national parties in Delhi Assembly election”.