BJP ministers hail Modi's win in TIME poll; Oppn criticises

Some ministers today hailed Prime Minister Narendra Modi for winning TIME Person of the Year 2016's online reader poll while opposition leaders took a dig at him, saying such a survey, if conducted in India, will show his popularity has declined, especially after demonetisation.
"I feel Modi ji is not only Person of the Year, but Person of the Century. With the agenda of peace, prosperity, growth and employment he is setting, the coming 84 years will have India and the world revolve around him," Union Water Resources Minister Uma Bharti told reporters in the Parliament premises.
Home Minister Rajnath Singh, too, wished Modi saying, "I congratulate him."

Taking a jibe at the Prime Minister, Congress MP Raj Babbar noted that those who voted for Modi were allegedly unaware of the rise in prices of flour and daal in the country during the NDA regime and the plight of Indians post demonetisation.
"I will humbly tell Modi ji... You should not go by the Times survey... The popularity, riding on which you became the Prime Minister, has gone down over the past two-and-half years. Please keep it in mind," Babbar said.
CPI national secretary D Raja expressed similar views and said people are unhappy with demonetisation.

"...The Prime Minister can be happy with this certificate from TIME, but what about the certificate from people of the country?" Raja asked.

In a sarcastic comment, former Union Minister Renuka Chowdhury said it was not surprising that Modi won the survey, for he pushed all Indians into difficulties with just one stroke of demonetisation.
"Who will not consider him as Person of the Year? In one stroke, he burnt pockets of people," she said.
Modi has won the online readers' poll for TIME Person of the Year 2016, beating other world leaders like US President- elect Donald Trump, incumbent US leader Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Time's editors will decide the final Person of the Year later this week, but the online poll results provide a look at how the world sees these figures and Modi emerged as the most influential figure in 2016, according to the online poll.