Click to play videoNew Delhi: The Republic of India is going to become 60 years old on January 26, 2010.
CNN-IBN commissioned GFK Mode to conduct an opinion poll among senior citizens in India to find out who they idolise.
Who are the icons of the India in its sixth decade?
Here are the results of the poll that we carried out in partnership with the Hindustan Times.
The survey conducted across the country says that former president of India Dr APJ Abdul Kalam towers over the likes of Amitabh Bachchan and Rahul Gandhi.
So it is the missile man all the way for India's senior citizens.
The People's President has yet again topped popularity charts to be voted the Icon of India.
An opinion poll done by CNN-IBN and GFK Mode shows that Kalam is who senior India looks up to and it is a pan India opinion, from small towns to metros.
Ex-president Kalam finds an over whelming preference in the South at 73 per cent, pushing other icons like Rahul Gandhi, Ratan Tata and Kiran Bedi to a distant second and third place respectively.
The survey says while former president Kalam is the favoured icon amongst men with 39 per cent votes, Rahul Gandhi is second with 14 per cent men favouring him and only nine per cent men like Ratan Tata as icon.
The grand old ladies also give a thumbs up to the ex-president with 36 per cent supporting him and only 12 per cent holding Rahul Gandhi in iconic status, pushing him to a third postion. Others prefer super cop Kiran Bedi at 15 per cent.
The trend continues in small towns and metros with 12 per cent people in small towns having voted for Ratan Tata, 21 per cent for Rahul Gandhi, putting Kalam on the top again at 28 per cent
The large towns are no different.
Kiran Bedi has got 11 per cent of the votes, Rahul Gandhi 14 per cent and Kalam an overwhelming 39 per cent.
In the metros Kalam beats Congress's Yuvraj (crown prince) by almost 30 per cent.
Kalam tops the list with 40 per cent, followed by Rahul Gandhi at 11 per cent and Kiran Bedi at nine per cent.
The opinion poll has also found that former Indian cricket captain and the Prince of Kolkata enjoying a fable like iconic status in Kolkata at 24 per cent of votes.
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