Top 10 Indian Political Personalities of 2017-18

The year 2017 has been an eventful year in terms of politics in the country, with PM Narendra Modi taking tough stance on both domestic and international front, and 9 states conducted elections to elect a new state assembly. The changing nature of politics can be seen from the fact that India's global stature is growing from strength to strength with every passing year. The following is the list of Top 10 Indian Political Personalities. These people have had a major impact in the field of politics last year. The list has been compiled keeping in mind the social media outreach of these political personalities and the influence these respective leaders have had on the country and the states in the year gone by:

Narendra Modi

Into his fourth year as the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi hasn't shied away from taking stern decisions. PM Narendra Modi had a mixed year in terms of domestic and international events. The Prime Minister has swiftly worked on bettering the brokered ties between India and China. Even though both countries came eye-to-eye over Doklam issue; however, Narendra Modi's persistence over the issue paid off. Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched several schemes and policies such as Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana – Saubhagya Scheme launched in Jammu and Kashmir, Sankalp Se Siddhi – New India Movement from 2017 – 2022, and many such schemes to ensure that India moves on a steady path of becoming an economic superpower. Apart from domestic policies, the Prime Minister has signed several important bilateral and international agreements to boost the fastest growing economy in the world.

Piyush Goyal

Piyush Goyal replaced Suresh Prabhu as the Railway Minister in the cabinet reshuffle that took place in 2017. He earlier held Independent charge of Ministry of Coal, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, and Ministry of Power. He has been an outstanding minister bringing in much needed reforms in Coal, New and Renewable, and power. He has ensured new policy measures for energy efficiency and green energy programmes. As soon as Piyush Goyal took charge at the Rail Bhavan, he had to tackle the horrors of Elphinstone stampede that brought him under the spotlight immediately. He ensured that proper safety measures are in place and ordered the railway authorities to take stringent actions and provide support to the families of the deceased and injured. He created a separate directorate named One ICT (Information, Communication, and Technology) to digitalise the railway networks and stations.

Chandrababu Naidu

The first Chief Minister of the divided state of Andhra Pradesh, Chandrababu Naidu has taken the state to new heights in the past four and a half years. Andhra Pradesh has emerged as one of the fastest growing state in the country with the injection of investment, making the state of Andhra Pradesh an enticing economic prospect for the investors. The business-friendly environment and ease of doing business has made the state a Start-up hub. The Andhra Pradesh CM has worked with determination to strengthen food security in the state, improved the education standard in the state, and ensured water conservation policies in drought prone state.

Arvind Kejriwal

The Delhi Chief Minister had a mixed year. He found it difficult to function and bring in policy measures without the consent of Governor, as the tussle between Centre and Delhi government continued. Even with obstacles, the AAP Chief has worked substantially towards the development of Delhi, with special impetus towards the affordable healthcare for citizens through Mohalla clinics. Arvind Kejriwal has ensured that the public and government schools are not lagging behind in terms of development, the infrastructure among majority of government schools have been overhauled. Apart from the state-of the-art infrastructure, the performance of these schools have also improved significantly with the students from public and government schools matching toe-to-toe with the students from private schools. Although, AAP party suffered embarrassing defeats across several state assembly elections, but was able to secure close to 20 seats in the Punjab Assembly elections.

Arun Jaitley

The second commander in-charge within the present day BJP-led NDA government, Arun Jaitley has been handling the portfolio of Finance Minister. The man has revived the Indian economy with some of the stringent measures, ever since he took over the office in 2014. He delivered his third straight budget in the Parliament in the beginning of 2017. The budget received a thumbs-up from senior economists as well as industry experts, as the Union budget had something for every section of the society. The year also saw the Finance Minister introduce the biggest tax reform on Indian soil since Independence, as he rolled out a common Goods and Services Tax (GST) for the whole country, doing away with the parochial tax structure that impeded the growth of the country. Arun Jaitley breathed his last at the age of 66 on August 24, 2019 at All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi.

Sushma Swaraj

Sushma Swaraj has set an example of how every minister or politician should be respectful towards their duty without being presumptuous about the influence of power and money. The External Affairs Minister has won millions of hearts with her compassion and commitment towards her work. From helping out stranded student in Tanzania to her speech at the United Nation General Assembly, the External Affairs minister has never shied away from fulfilling her duty. She has asked people looking for any sort of help regarding visas or passports to get in touch with her through social media platform Twitter and the most compelling thing about Sushma Swaraj is that regardless of the nationality she has always come forward to help those in need. A similar situation arose when a Pakistani wife wanted to bring her husband to India to ensure that he receives proper healthcare. After being denied the visa, she tweeted the MEA minister. Sushma was prompt and asked the Indian Embassy in Pakistan to look into the matter and ensure that she is able to bring her husband to India for better treatment. Sushma Swaraj passed away on August 6, 2019 due to cardiac arrest.

Amit Shah

The BJP supremo has become one of the best election strategist the country has ever seen. Amit Shah once again led the saffron party to comprehensive victories in the states of Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, while gaining significant foothold for the first time in the state of Manipur. The BJP registered victory in 13 seats in Goa Assembly elections and managed to form an alliance with Manohar Parrikar as the CM. “The Chanakaya”, as many call him within the party ranks, failed to deliver in Punjab, as Akali-BJP alliance suffered defeat at the hands of Congress. Amit Shah-Narendra Modi duo have kept BJP's triumphant march on track and would be looking to replicate their electoral performance in the upcoming state elections and 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

Rahul Gandhi

The young Turk of the grand-old Congress party has been looking after the functioning of the party ever since Congress supremo Sonia Gandhi has been battling through sever illness. Rahul Gandhi has had a tough start to his leadership, as the party suffered defeats in the several state assembly elections. However, the result in Punjab where the party won the elections comprehensively defeating the Akali-BJP alliance has been a silver lining in the cloud for Rahul Gandhi. The interim chief was handed over the mantle of the Congress party by his mother Sonia Gandhi at the end of the year, although party suffered defeats in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh as soon as Rahul took over the reigns of the Congress. But, the results in Gujarat considered a BJP bastion came as a morale victory for the party, while the Congress registered victory in several Lok Sabha and state assembly bye-elections. He would be looking to take this positives from 2017 to ensure that party is able to become the force it once was before BJP wave dismantled it.

Nitish Kumar

The Bihar Chief Minister resumed office after resigning, as his former government in coalition with RJD collapsed. He cited the problems prevalent in Bihar as the reason behind his decision. However, the long-time serving Chief Minister of Bihar formed a new government with support from former friend turned foe BJP. The six-time Bihar Chief Minister launched a state-wide campaign to abolish child marriage and dowry, the aim of the campaign is to end the rudimentary practices that have plagued the development of state for years. Self-help Groups (SHG) in the state have played a major role in the recent development in the state and empowered the women in the society. The Bihar CM had planned to increase the number of self-help groups to 10 lakh SHGs, while in another move to empower the women in the state, Nitish Kumar has increased the representation of women in urban and local bodies to 50 %, giving the women to come out of the shackles and participate actively in the functioning of the government.

Suresh Prabhu

The year has been a roller coaster ride for the former Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu, as the union minister was marred in controversy surrounding the fatal rail accidents. However, he owned the responsibility and launched ‘Rashtriya Rail Sanraksha Kosh’ (RRSK) for financing critical safety related works to ensure safety of the passengers. Suresh Prabhu came up with the policy to eliminate unmanned level crossings on broad gauge by 2020. apart from that the Minister had initiated the process of WiFi installation across 200 railway stations in the country. In the cabinet reshuffle Suresh Prabhu was assigned the Minister of Commerce & Industry portfolio and has been focused on developing strong economic ties with several countries, while opening up about the plethora of investment opportunity that lies within the country. He has met the India Inc to bring all the investors and corporate conglomerates to highlight the potential of Indian market and how they can be a part of India's success story as an economic superpower in the coming years. He released National Strategy for Standardisation to bring a regularised standard for products to meet the expectations of the investors and consumers * The order of the list doesn't represent the standing of the political personalities Read More.... 50 Top Indian Personalities in 2016-17 Top 10 Indian Personalities of 2015 Accidental deaths of political Leaders What is Wrong With Indian Politics? Should Politicians Be Judged Based on Their Private Lives Should Politicians in India Be Educated? Where are the good politicians in India? Do you think politicians’ attires can fetch vote? Famous People in Politics Honest political leader How Competent are the Celebrity-turned politicians in India? Top 5 Indian political leaders who were assassinated