Click to play videoNew Delhi: The verdict is out for the best politician of 2007.
It was a tough contest for the CNN-IBN Politician of the Year Award this year.
It was one category for which every nominee's past and present performance was put to test by the CNN-IBN selection committee.
There was no easy way of narrowing down on the recipient from the six who had been short-listed.
2007 belonged as much to Marxist Prakash Karat for spearheading the move against the nuclear deal, something he had done with honesty and conviction in his cause.
BC Khanduri, Uttarakhand Chief Minister, has proved his worth as an efficient and honest administrator.
Pranab Mukherjee became more indispensable to the Union Government with his behind-the-scene parleys, especially with his handling of one crisis after another
There were popular votes for the two big election winners of the year, Mayawati and Narendra Modi.
One had triumphed over every possible odd as a Dalit woman to lead her party to an absolute majority in a complex, caste-ridden Uttar Pradesh while the other had defeated anti-incumbency almost single-handedly and earned praise from the industry for his vision of development.
But apart from these positives, there were also quite a few negatives that were stacked against them. In the end, those negatives were seen to have reduced the strength of their unquestionable achievements.
India's dynamic Finance Minister P Chidambaram picked up a substantial popular vote and was also ahead in the eminent citizens’ panel.
He is not just the darling of middle-class India, his appeal is now spreading among crucial coalition allies.
He is mixing more politics with his economics and is becoming a politician for all seasons, even in the election season.
Both Mayawati and Modi have prime ministerial potential. Both will have their chances to win this award in the future if they overcome the negative quotient, but for 2007 CNN-IBN’s unanimous choice is P Chidambaram, the man who has delivered the maximum Budgets in Independent India.
Speaking about why Chidambaram made it, the head of the jury, Soli Sorabjee said, “He [Chidambaram] has intellectual ability and unquestioned integrity. His ministry is carrying on the process of reform, and he has gone on despite barks and bites, sometimes from various sources and sometimes from people within his party. He has a commitment and a certain stature.”
The winners in various categories of CNN-IBN Indian of the Year are being elected by people sending in their votes through SMS and online and by a jury comprising lawyer Soli Sorabjee, HDFC chairman Deepak Parekh, Infosys co-chairman Nandan Nilekani, Hindustan Times Media Limited vice-chairperson and editorial director Shobhana Bhartia, billiards champion Geet Sethi, actor Mohanlal Viswanathan Nair and former police officer Kiran Bedi.
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