Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who did not make it to the final eight selected by TIME for the annual ‘Person of the Year’ title, has been hailed as one by its readers in an online poll conducted by the publication. Modi has been named winner of this year's readers' poll for TIME 'Person of the Year', securing more than 16 per cent of the almost five million votes cast.
Protesters in Ferguson, who were demonstrating against a grand jury's decision not to indict white police officer Darren Wilson who shot and killed unarmed black teenager Michael Brown in August ranked second with 9 per cent of the votes.
TIME said "a strong showing of readers from India" helped drive Modi's first-place finish. "More people from the country voted than from any other country, with the exception of the United States," it said. Readers from more than 225 countries participated in the online poll, with US votes leading the tally at 37 per cent, followed by India at 17 per cent, and Russia at 12 per cent.
TIME said Modi became Prime Minister in May after securing a landslide victory on a "platform of rebooting India's stalling economy." "But his detractors have questioned his past record," it added. Hong Kong protest leader Joshua Wong, Nobel Peace Prize-winner Malala Yousafzai and the doctors and nurses treating Ebola rounded out the top five.
A majority of votes, 60 per cent, came from desktop computers. Just over 35 per cent came from mobile devices, and 4.5 per cent of readers voted on tablets.