Mehbooba among most powerful Indians

Srinagar, Mar 30: Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti has made it to the list of “100 most powerful Indians” compiled by the ‘Indian Express’, which has ranked not the politicians, but sports-persons, film-actors and business leaders s well.

As expected, the Prime Minister Narendra Modi at number one and his right-hand man and BJP president at number two continue to hold the top two positions, Mehbooba Mufti, Ghulam Nabi Azad and  Omar Abdullah are the three politicians from J&K who figure in the list.

PDP president and Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti, 58, occupies 26^th position in the list of “100 most-powerful Indians”, ahead of 69 years old  Congress leader and former J&K Chief Minister Gulam Nabi Azad at 59^th position and 48-years-old NC working president Omar Abdullah at 72^nd position.

About Mufti, the newspaper writes that “stepping into the giant shoes of her late father Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, and despite being stymied by an overpowering BJP in a coalition government, she has proved she is no pushover. She got the Centre to agree to amnesty to over 8,000 youth named in stone-pelting cases and sees the appointment of interlocutor Dineshwar Sharma as a political victory.”

She recently sacked powerful Finance Minister Haseeb Drabu, “in what was seen as a strong signal to the BJP,” writes the newspaper, adding that it remains to be seen if she can keep walking the tightrope in her alliance with the BJP and deliver on governance as well.

About Azad, the newspaper writes that he has worked with four generations of Gandhis, and remains central to the Congress’s plans, both inside and outside Parliament and Omar Abdullah is described as the “most potent voice against the PDP-BJP government in the state,” who is “believed to have played an important role in father Farooq Abdullah’s return as MP from the prestigious Srinagar seat”.

The list puts Dipak Misra, the Chief Justice of India at number 3 position and RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat at number 4 position while as UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi ranks at number 5 and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee at number 6, ahead of Home Minister Rajnath Singh at number 7 and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley at number 8.

UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath figures at number 9 and Reliance Industries chief Mukesh Ambani at number 10.

Congress president Rahul Gandhi occupies 11^th position and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval 23^rd position, Army Chief General Bipin Rawat figures at 41^st position and AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi  at number 70.