Today, the year 2024 is ending, and in today’s blog, I am going to write about the Top Political Personalities of this year.
Here is the list:
1 NARENDRA MODI-74 Prime Minister
He is on the top because he created history and became the first Prime Minister since Nehru to win a third consecutive term. Modi 3.0 may not have been the impressive triumph he had predicted, but even that reduced majority in the Lok Sabha election left him on higher heights than all others. Haryana and Maharashtra proved that Modi has enough fuel left him to fight back. Even the RSS,, despite flashes of friction, treads with knowledge that there is no comparable leader in the saffron camp.
It is a known fact that the Modi era has seen India amplify its global and geographical influence. His pragmatic yet softly assertive independence in foreign policy carves a unique niche. While deepening strategic ties with the USA, he is one of the few who can converse with Vladmir Putin as well as Voldomyr Zelenskyy, or Benjamin Netanyahu and Gulf leaders alike. He is on the top because Indian economy nears $4 trillion mark., and the hand he played as a growth oriented modernizer, steering one of the world’s fastest growing economies.
2 Mohan Bhagwat 72 Sarsanghchalak RSS
The circumstances have changed from the time when he was seen more as a titular pitamah spouting wooly Dharma with no effect on things that matter. After chastening general election for the errant ideological child of the RSS, his views now serve as de facto policy directives for Modi 3.0 and BJP controlled states.
The Sangh line is now driving changes within BJP’s internal structure influencing political appointments, the policy o defectors, candidates and alliances. A lot of credit for BJP’s win in Haryana and even in Maharashtra, is being given to silent RSS activation. He is the only one who could send a calculated statement to the top brass of the political wing (BJP), performing a necessary self corrective function within saffron group.
3 AMIT SHAH 59 Home Minister
He is still India’s second-most powerful political leader and his imprint is visible on everything that sustains the Modi enterprise on home turf. From grand acts of statecraft to hyperlocal electoral numbers, which he continues to crunch like a supercomputer. The lat general election may have loomed like Rubik’s cube that almost defied his skills at realpolitik, but after the dust settled and the game resumed in Haryana, and later in Maharashtra, he came back with bang.
He is the third longest-serving Home Minister, after LK Advani and GB Pant. He has set in place an Iron Dome over the country’s internal security. The lawbook itself bears his imprint now, with three new criminal codes. He also has 360 degree oversight over political and policy matters and has the PM’s ear. He is the sole minister who sits alongside PM on the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) and serves on all key cabinet committees. Every major decision is born after crossing his desk.
4 N CHANDRABABU NAIDU 74 CM of Andhra Pradesh
He came back from near-political obscurity, with a stint in prison marking its nadir, to be one of the most pivotal figures in Indian politics. Minus the 16 MPs of his Telugu Desam Party (TDP), the Modi government would skim dangerously close to the halfway mark. His fourth term as CM will likely put the spurs on a Swarna Andhra Pradesh, with his once-abandoned dream of a new capital city of Amravati, now again reaching for fruition. His intent is to make Andhra a $2.4 trillion economy by 2047.
5 RAHUL GANDHI 54 Leader of Opposition
After the general election, it was said that he has conquered some deep psychological frontiers, perhaps even within himself, to be reborn as ‘ the alternative to Modi’. He wrested the role of leader of opposition officially in Lok Sabha. But after the results of Haryana and Maharashtra assemblies results, it seems that he has still miles to go. Congress party is staying with him and he is still in control of the only other national party. But his behaviour as leader of opposition in Lok Sabha is still not up to the mark, as he raises irrelevant issues like Constitution amendment which back fires on Congress, and his no love lost for Ambani and Adani groups is well known, as he openly says Modi government is helping them. This statement of his openly embarrasses other Congress leaders who are in control the Congress ruled states, where Adani and Ambani groups have business contacts with state governments.
Other political leaders who left the mark in 2024 are
- Nitish Kumar CM of Bihar
- Yogi Adityanath CM of Uttar Pradesh
- MK Stalin CM of Tamilnadu
- Mamata Banerjee CM of West Bengal
- Akhilesh Yadav President of Samajwadi Party
Waiting for your feedback on this blog.
Anil Malik
Mumbai, India
31st December 2024
WISHING ALL MY READERS “A VERY HAPPY AND PROSPEROUS 2025”