ONI Bureau: Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan figured in the ‘100 Most Powerful Indians’ (also known as IE100) list published by The Indian Express.
Naveen, who has been ruling Odisha unchallenged for the last 18 years and leading Biju Janata Dal (BJD), is at the 30th spot, while Dharmendra Pradhan, who shot into fame in less than 4 years, is at the 32nd spot – just behind Naveen. Interestingly, Naveen had secured 65th rank in 2017 while Dharmendra was at 30th position.
Other Chief Ministers who rank higher than Naveen Patnaik, are Mamata Banerjee (6th), Yogi Adityanath (9th), Shivraj Singh Chouhan (13th), Devendra Fadnavis (16th), Siddaramaiah (19th), Mehbooba Mufti (26th). Arvind Kejriwal is lying at 73rd spot.
CJI Dipak Misra, who also hails from Odisha is the 3rd Most Powerful Indian, while another Odia PK Mishra, who is the Additional Principal Secretary in the PMO, is at the 44th spot.
As expected PM Narendra Modi and BJP President Amit Shah have secured the first two positions respectively. RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat is at No. 4 while former Congress President Sonia Gandhi is at 5th spot. Congress President Rahul Gandhi is at the 11th spot.
Top Eleven:
1. Narendra Modi
2. Amit Shah
3. CJI Dipak Misra
4. Mohan Bhagwat
5. Sonia Gandhi
6. Mamata Banerjee
7. Rajnath Singh
8. Arun Jaitley
9. Yogi Adityanath
10. Mukesh Ambani
11. Rahul Gandhi