NEW YORK: Prime Minister Narendra Modi was on Monday declared as the winner of TIME Magazine's Person Of The Year -- Reader's Poll, edging out other world leaders, artists and politicians as the most influential figure in 2016.
Modi won with 18 per cent of the vote when the poll closed on Sunday. TIME Magazine's Person Of The Year will be announced on December 7, according to TIME, this year's poll was in partnership with Opentopic and IBM's Watson.
The Indian PM was placed well ahead of his closest contenders, including US President Barack Obama, US President-elect Donald Trump and Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, who all received seven per cent of the "yes" vote.
Modi also placed far ahead of other prominent figures of this year, like Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg (2 per cent) and Democratic Party's nominee in the 2016 US presidential election Hillary Clinton (4 per cent).
Current poll results, analysed by poll host Apester, found that preferences differ across the world and the US. Modi performed particularly well among Indian voters as well as those in California and New Jersey.
Every year, TIME selects the most influential person of the year, noting, for better or for worse, the person or group of people who have had the largest global impact over the past 12 months.
Last year, German Chancellor Angela Merkel was Time's 'Person of the Year'.