Indian PM Narendra Modi holds a strong lead in the 2016’s TIME person of the year. This is the closest we will ever get to see an Indian on the cover page of the “prestigious” TIME magazine.
Every year, TIME selects a person who has been most influential in the world in the past 12 months. While the magazine’s editors have the final say about who is going to be the Person of the Year, the online poll gives a chance to the readers to decide whom they think made most impact in 2016.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is currently leading the online poll of reader’s choice for TIME magazines Person of the Year. He is currently polling at 18%, which is more than double of his nearest competitor. US president elect Donald Trump and Wiki leaks founder Julian Assange are currently polling at 7% each.
Other contenders in the 2016 TIME Person of the year also include the soon-to-retire US leader Barrack Obama, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi JinPing and the British prime Minister Theresa May.
For the fourth year in a row, Modi is among the contenders for TIME Person of the Year honour.
Narendra Modi emerged as the winner of the readers polls for 2014 TIME Person of the Year, but that did little to impress the magazine’s editors who did not shortlist him among the top eight finalists. Ebola fighters which refers to health care workers who helped stop the spread of Ebola virus disease during the Ebola virus epidemic in West Africa eventually won in 2014. No one complained.
In 2015 Modi garnered just 1.6% of the votes. Angela Merkel who was the mastermind to bring in the refugees from Syria to Europe was adjudged the TIME Person of the year.
Like the Indian media, US media doesn’t really care about people’s choices. They are biased and judgemental. We have seen how the people of US and Britain thumped the media who were blindly supporting Hillary Clinton and Anti Brexit campaign respectively. 2016 is the year of change. It is the year which will be forever remembered as the year in which people stood for what is correct and not what is politically correct. It doesn’t help the TIME editors that Angela Merkel who was last year’s winner has been politically massacred in Germany after the refugee crisis.
Unlike 2014 where even though Modi won the popular vote but wasn’t shortlisted in the final eight by the editors, 2016 is different. The pulse of the people has changed; there is a wave of right wing, which is palpable around the world. The polling percentages in this year’s readers poll show that. TIME editors will probably have no option but to short list Modi and once Modi is shortlisted he might win the 2016 TIME person of the year.
There will be a fierce competition this year between Modi and Trump. But one thing which may swing the tide in Modi’s favour is demonetization. TIME magazine’s editors know this and they can’t even criticize this move.
Since Mahatma Gandhi in 1930, no Indian has become the TIME Person of the Year. 2016 has been a strange but an eventful year. Whatever might happen on December 7th we can’t deny the fact that Modi is the hero India deserves, but not the one it needs right now, so we’ll taunt him. Because he can take it, because he’s not a hero. He’s a silent guardian, a watchful protector, a Dark Knight and the Time Person of the year 2016.