India Today's Top 10 Indians poll

Found through the drisyadrisya दृश्यादृश्य (seen/not seen) blog was information about the poll conducted by India Today on the Top 10 Indian leaders.

I agree with drisyadrisya that this was not a scientific poll. India Today states, "The poll began on March 14 and ran for three weeks through the India Today website and SMS." If there were no means to disallow votes from those who had already voted (and I suspect there weren't), then this poll was subject to vote-stuffing.


Bhagat Singh

In descending order of percent voting:

1. Bhagat Singh - 37%


2. Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose - 27%


3. Mahatma Gandhi - 13%


4. Sardar Patel - 7%


5. J.R.D. Tata - 4%


6. Indira Gandhi - 3%


7. Rabindranath Tagore - 3%


8. Homi Bhabha - 2%


9. Jawaharlal Nehru - 2%


10. Jayaprakash Narayan - 1%

As drisyadrisya noted, April 13, 2008 marks the 89th anniversary of Jallianwallabagh Massacre, which galvanized Bhagat Singh. So maybe the timing of the poll is why Bhagat Singh took top spot.

I don't mean to disparage the results of the India Today poll; indeed, I take heart in the fact that those who voted in the polls sought to promote assertive leaders.