India’s elite “have a good reason to be worried” about Kejriwal, says magazine.
By Deepak Chitnis
WASHINGTON, DC: Foreign Policy magazine has named Aam Aadmi Party founder Arvind Kejriwal as one of its Top 100 Global Thinkers for the year 2013, for “leading a campaign to clean up India’s capital.”
In its entry on Kejriwal, who placed 34th overall on the list, Foreign Policy lauds him for his unwavering stance against political corruption, saying that Kejriwal and the AAP are “out to ignite a revolution” in India.
“India’s elite have good reason to be worried about Kejriwal,” says Foreign Policy. “The country was rocked by a series of anti-corruption protests just two years ago, and in a poll released in July, 71% of respondents said corruption is getting worse.”
The entry also features a quote from Sheila Dikshit, the current Chief Minister of Delhi and a key opponent of Kejriwal, who admits that the man has “caught the imagination of [the] people.”
Foreign Policy, one of the most acclaimed political magazines in the world, creates a Global Thinkers list every year. Also featured on the list for 2013 are Secretary of State John Kerry, Pakistani female rights advocate Malala Yousafzai, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, and NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden, who topped the list.
Kejriwal is not the only Indian name on the list. Anand Grover, attorney and activist for gay rights in India, also made the cut “for going to the mat with Big Pharma.” Tech entrepreneurs Babak Nivi and Naval Ravikant made the list as a joint entry “for throwing open the gates to venture capital.”
Sanjay Basu, an epidemiologist and physician at Stanford University, made the list with David Stuckler for their joint study on how fiscal policy has detrimental effects on the public health sector. Rajendra Pachauri was also featured for “showing that humanity is on the brink of catastrophe.”
The full list of Foreign Policy’s Top 100 Global Thinkers of 2013 can be found here.
To contact the author, email to deepakchitnis@americanbazaaronline.com