New Delhi, March 29, 2021 (Yes Punjab News)
Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh has been placed at number 15 in a list of 100 Most Powerful Indians in 2021 released by prestigious Indian Express group of publications.
Capt Amarinder Singh has been ranked quite high. According to the IE List, he even ranks higher than his party president and UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, former AICC Chief Rahul Gandhi, and Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi.
Sonia Gandhi has been listed at number 34, Rahul at 39 and Priyanka at 41.
No other politician from Punjab has figured in the list. However, farmer leader Joginder Singh Ugrahan and Amarinder’s Political Advisor and strategist Prashant Kishor have also made it to the list.
According to the publication, Amarinder steered the state deftly through the pandemic and the farmers’ agitation. With the three new farm laws driving a wedge between Akali Dal and the BJP, and AAP putting up a desultory performance, he has emerged as the undisputed leader of the state.
Once known for his inaccessibility to even his party legislators, the CM made full use of technology to connect with the people of Punjab throughout the pandemic, calling up frontline warriors every day. He threw his weight behind the protesting farmers, but drew a line at any hint of lawlessness.
With state elections in 2022, Singh will have to retain goodwill among the masses, without letting the agitation become fodder for the Opposition to attack his government. Rising unemployment may come back to bite the CM who sailed to victory on the promise of ghar ghar rozgaar. A military historian, he is writing a book on the 1971 war.
The list starts with PM Narendra Modi at number 1, Home Minister Amit Shah at number 2, RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat at number 3 and BJP Chief JP Nadda at number 4. Rajnath is at no.6, Gadkari at 8, Sitharaman at 9.
Yogi comes at number 13 and Uddhav Thackeray at 14. Kejriwal is there at number 27, Khattar at 48.
FARMER LEADERS Joginder Singh Ugrahan and Rakesh Tikait have also found a place in the list. Ugrahan has been listed at number 88 while Tikait is just behind him at 89.
Only one sportsperson Virat Kohli has been listed at number 83.
POLITICAL STRATEGIST Prashant Kishor, who is now the Principal Advisor to Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh, has also been included at number 98.
Mukesh Ambani, Gautam Adani, Uday Kotak, Azim Premji, Anand Mahindra, Sunil Bharti Mittal, Kumar Manglam Birla, Byju Raveendran, Ratan Tata, and some other corporate honchos have also been figured.
Baba Ramdev is also there.
THE LIST
1 Narendra Modi
2 Amit Shah
3 Mohan Bhagwat
4 JP Nadda
5 Mukesh Ambani
6 Rajnath Singh
7 Ajit Doval
8 Nitin Gadkari
9 Nirmal Sitharaman
10 Gautam Adani
11 Ravi Shankar Prasad
12 S. Jayshankar
13 Yogi Adityanath
14 Uddhav Thackeray
15 Amarinder Singh
16 BL Santosh BJP
17 Piyush Goyal
18 Sharad Pawar
19 Gen MM Naravane Indian Army Chief
20 PK Mishra Principal Secretary to PM
21 Justice NV Ramana Supreme Court
22 Mamata Banerjee CM Bengal
23 Prakash Javadekar
24 Pinari Vijayan CM Kerala
25 Manoj Sinha Lt Guv J&K
26 Bhupesh Baghel CM Chhattisgarh
27 Arvind Kejriwal CM Delhi
28 MK Stalin DMK
29 Shantikanta Das Governor RBI
30 Narendra Singh Tomar
31 Ashok Gehlot CM Rajasthan
32 YS Jagan Mohan Reddy CM Andhra
33 Sushil Chandra ECI
34 Sonia Gandhi
35 Rajesh Bhushan Health Secretary
36 Dr Randeep Guleria Director AIIMS
37 Dr Harsh Vardhan
38 Dattatreya Hosabale RSS
39 Rahul Gandhi
40 Sanjay Mishra Director ED
41 Priyanka Gandhi
42 Shiv Raj Chouhan CM Madhya Pradesh
43 Gajendra Singh Shekhawat
44 Uday Kotak
45 Naveen Patnaik CM Odisha
46 Mallikarjun Kharge
47 BS Yediyurappa CM Karnataka
48 Manohar Lal Khattar CM Haryana
49 Ajay Kumar Bhalla Home Secretary
50 Yogesh Kumar Modi Dir Gen NIA
51 Rajiv Gauba Cabinet Secretary
52 Amit Khare Secy Higher Edu & IB
53 Azim Premji WIPRO
54 Edapaddi K Palaniswami CM TN
55 Farooq Abdullah
56 Mehbooba Mufti
57 Ajay Tyagi Chairman SEBI
58 Tushar Mehta Solicitor General of India
59 Jay Shah Secretary BCCI
60 Himanta Biswa Sarma, Assam Cabinet Minsiter
61 K Chandrashekar Rao CM Telangana
62 Devendra Fadnavis
63 Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury
64 Smriti Irani
65 Champat Rai VP VHP
66 RS Sharma CEO National Health Authority
67 Anand Mahindra (Mahindra Group)
68 Baba Ramdev
69 Fali S Nariman Senior Jurist
70 Akhilesh Yadav
71 Mayawati
72 Asaduddin Owaisi
73 Sunil Bharti Mittal
74 Vijay Rupani CM Gujarat
75 SN Shrivastava Delhi Police Commissioner
76 Tejashwi Yadav
77 Tarun Bajaj Secy, Ministry of Finance
78 TV Somanathan Secy Ministry of Finance
79 DK Shivakumar President Karnataka Congress
80 Nitish Kumar CM Bihar
81 Kumar Mangalam Birla
82 Prashant Bhushan
83 Virat Kohli
84 Byju Raveendran CEO BYJU
85 Salil Parekh CEO Infosys
86 Adar Poonawala SERUM Institute
87 Krishna Ella CMD Biotech
88 Joginder Singh Ekta Ugrahan – BKU Ekta Ugrahan
89 Rakesh Tikait BKU
90 Ratan Tata
91 Gen Bipin Rawat Chief of Defence Staff
92 Harish Salve Sr Advocate
93 Kailash Vijayvargiya BJP
94 Roshni Nadar Malhotra HCL
95 Dharmendra Pradhan Union Minister
96 Vijay Shekhar Sharma CEO Paytm
97 Hemant Soren CM Jharkhand
98 Prashant Kishor Political Strategist
99 Bimal Patel MD HCP
100 Sachin Pilot Congress
LIST COURTESY The Indian Express