Time's poll: Kejriwal beats Modi

New Delhi: Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal has beaten BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi in the Time Magazine readers’ poll. The Time magazine’s ongoing 100 Reader Poll, has asked the question “The 100 Most Influential People in the World: Who should be on this year’s list?” has tabulated an overwhelming “no” for BJP’s Modi.

Conversely over 84 per cent have responded with a ‘yes’ for the inclusion of former Delhi chief minister Kejriwal and placed him at the top of the list currently.

Interestingly, BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, who Time Magazine describes as “likely to become India’s next Prime Minister,” at the time of writing, had, of a total 253,826 votes cast, 62.9 per cent cast as “no” votes compared to 37.2 per cent “yes” votes. Mr Modi led the “no” votes tally with 1,59,656 “no” votes, compared to 94,423 “yes” votes.

The magazine claimed that Aam Aadmi Party’s Arvind Kejriwal had a very positive rating, with 84.1 per cent of the 191,586 total votes cast till the time of writing being “yes” votes, compared to only 15.9 per cent of “no” votes. In figures, 161,123 “yes” votes compared to 30,462 “no” votes, were cast.

Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi is seen towards the bottom of the list, with 83.6 per cent “no” votes of a total of 33,119 votes cast, compared to 16.4 per cent “yes” votes. That is 27,687 “no” votes in contrast with 5431 “yes” votes.

An infographic by the magazine showed Mr Kejriwal in the lead, followed by Katy Perry, Narendra Modi, Laverne Cox, and Beyonce Knowles rounding up the top five.

Of these top five, Mr Modi is the only one whose “no” votes surpass his “yes” votes. Others with “no” votes in excess of “yes” votes include Justin Bieber, Miley Cyrus, Jay Z and Kim Kardashian.

Other than Kejriwal and Modi, the voting trends are dominated by movie and music stars, with Bieber, Benedict Cumberbatch, Jared Leto, Lupita Nyong’o, Rihanna, Lady Gaga, Daft Punk, Taylor Swift, Steve Mcqueen, Meryl Streep, Yao Chen and Lorde finishing off the top 20.

The only non-music and film personalities in the top twenty, barring Kejriwal and Modi, are Egyptian military commander Abdel Fatah al-Sissi at number 13 with 67.3 percent of 47,650 votes as “yes” votes and Pakistani education activist Malala Yousafzai at number 19 with 75.4 percent “yes” votes of a total of 20,500 votes cast, the magazine stated.

Other world leaders figured far lower on the list, with Russian President Vladimir Putin receiving a total of 18,697 votes (54.2 percent “yes” versus 45.8 percent “no”), German Chancellor Angela Merkel with 11,800 votes (47 percent “yes” versus 53 percent “no”), Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Erdogan receiving 15,369 votes (43.1 percent “yes” versus 56.9 percent “no”). US President Barack Obama received a total of only 6,388 votes, albeit with a strong approval rating of 75 percent “yes” votes compared to 25 percent “no” votes.

The poll has asked sought readers response to a list of personalities figured in categories including World, US Politics, Business & Tech, Music, Culture and Fashion, Media, Music, Movies & TV, and Sports. While the voting for the poll closes on 22 April, the winner of the reader poll will be announced on 23 April.