The 2024 Lok Sabha elections marked yet another victory for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), with Prime Minister Narendra Modi maintaining a strong grip on India’s political scene for the 11th year. This dominance is reflected in The Indian Express power list, where Modi, Amit Shah, and S. Jaishankar secured the top three spots. Meanwhile, Arvind Kejriwal saw a steep fall from rank 18 to 52, while Rahul Gandhi made significant gains, rising to rank 9 after becoming the Leader of the Opposition.
India’s Power Dynamics: Modi Leads, Rahul Rises, New Faces Emerge in Top 100 List
As the U.S. political landscape undergoes change following Donald Trump’s return as the Republican nominee, India’s leadership appears more stable. In business, Gautam Adani and Mukesh Ambani continue to hold their ground, despite challenges. New entrepreneurs like Deepinder Goyal (rank 47) and Aravind Srinivas (rank 70) represent the next wave of Indian innovation. Politicians like Mamata Banerjee (rank 18) and MK Stalin (rank 23) also continue to expand their national influence.
Check out rank-wise Top 100 Influential Indians:
1. Narendra Modi, 74 – Prime Minister of India | Last Year: 1
2. Amit Shah, 60 – Union Home Minister | Last Year: 2
3. S. Jaishankar, 70 – External Affairs Minister | Last Year: 5
4. Mohan Bhagwat, 74 – RSS Chief | Last Year: 3
5. Nirmala Sitharaman, 65 – Finance & Corporate Affairs Minister | Last Year: 8
6. Yogi Adityanath, 52 – Uttar Pradesh CM | Last Year: 6
7. Rajnath Singh, 73 – Defence Minister | Last Year: 7
8. Ashwini Vaishnaw, 54 – Railways, IT & I&B Minister | Last Year: 13
9. Rahul Gandhi, 54 – Leader of Opposition (Lok Sabha) | Last Year: 16
10. Mukesh Ambani, 67 – CMD, Reliance Industries | Last Year: 11
11. Gautam Adani, 62 – Chairman, Adani Group | Last Year: 10
12. Piyush Goyal, 60 – Commerce & Industry Minister | Last Year: 12
13. Devendra Fadnavis, 54 – Maharashtra CM | Last Year: 50
14. N. Chandrababu Naidu, 74 – Andhra Pradesh CM | New Entry in List
15. Nitin Gadkari, 67 – Road Transport Minister | New Entry in List
16. Sanjay Malhotra, 57 – RBI Governor | New Entry in List
17. Bhupender Yadav, 55 – Environment Minister | Last Year: 31
18. Mamata Banerjee, 70 – West Bengal CM | Last Year: 15
19. Hardeep Singh Puri, 73 – Petroleum Minister | Last Year: 20
20. Siddaramaiah, 76 – Karnataka CM | Last Year: 22
21. Nitish Kumar, 74 – Bihar CM | Last Year: 24
22. Dharmendra Pradhan, 55 – Education Minister | Last Year: 33
23. M.K. Stalin, 72 – Tamil Nadu CM | Last Year: 25
24. Jay Shah, 36 – ICC Chairman | Last Year: 35
25. N. Chandrasekaran, 61 – Chairman, Tata Group | Last Year: 28
26. Nita Ambani, 60 – Chairperson, Reliance Foundation | Last Year: 26
27. General Upendra Dwivedi, 60 – Army Chief | New Entry in List
28. A. Revanth Reddy, 55 – Telangana CM | Last Year: 39
29. Shivraj Singh Chouhan, 66 – Rural Dev. & Agriculture Minister | New Entry in List
30. Noel Naval Tata, 68 – Chairman, Tata Trusts | New Entry in List
31. Himanta Biswa Sarma, 56 – Assam CM | Last Year: 14
32. Pushkar Singh Dhami, 49 – Uttarakhand CM | Last Year: 61
33. Mallikarjun Kharge, 82 – Congress President | Last Year: 36
34. Mansukh Mandaviya, 52 – Labour, Youth Affairs Minister | Last Year: 23
35. Ajit Doval, 80 – National Security Advisor | Last Year: 17
36. Viswanathan Anand, 55 – Chess Grandmaster | New Entry in List
37. Uday Kotak, 66 – Founder, Kotak Mahindra Bank | Last Year: 41
38. Nayab Singh Saini, 55 – Haryana CM | New Entry in List
39. Manohar Lal Khattar, 70 – Housing & Urban Affairs Minister | Last Year: 82
40. Hemant Soren, 49 – Jharkhand CM | Last Year: 93
41. Pinarayi Vijayan, 79 – Kerala CM | Last Year: 49
42. B.L. Santhosh, 58 – BJP General Secretary | New Entry in List
43. Shaktikanta Das, 68 – Principal Secretary to PM | Last Year: 19
44. Bhagwant Mann, 51 – Punjab CM | Last Year: 64
45. Sanjiv Khanna, 64 – Chief Justice of India | Last Year: 21
46. Omar Abdullah, 55 – J&K Politician | New Entry in List
47. Deepinder Goyal, 42 – Founder & CEO, Zomato | New Entry in List
48. Rohit Sharma, 37 – Indian Cricket Captain | Last Year: 68
49. Rajiv Bajaj, 58 – MD, Bajaj Auto | Last Year: 44
50. JP Nadda, 64 – Health Minister | Last Year: 9
51. Eknath Shinde, 61 – Maharashtra Deputy CM | Last Year: 48
52. Arvind Kejriwal, 56 – Former Delhi CM | Last Year: 18
53. Tushar Mehta, 60 – Solicitor General | Last Year: 51
54. Rajiv Ranjan Singh, 70 – Minister, Panchayati Raj | New Entry in List
55. Sarbananda Sonowal, 62 – Shipping Minister | New Entry in List
56. Jyotiraditya Scindia, 54 – Communications Minister | New Entry in List
57. Ajit Pawar, 65 – Maha Deputy CM | Last Year: 76
58. Kiren Rijiju, 53 – Minority & Parliamentary Affairs | New Entry in List
59. Chirag Paswan, 42 – Food Processing Minister | New Entry in List
60. C.R. Paatil, 70 – Jal Shakti Minister | Last Year: 67
61. Pema Khandu, 45 – Arunachal Pradesh CM | New Entry in List
62. Vishnu Deo Sai, 61 – Chhattisgarh CM | Last Year: 77
63. Pramod Sawant, 51 – Goa CM | New Entry in List
64. Bhupendra Patel, 62 – Gujarat CM | Last Year: 71
65. Rekha Gupta, 50 – Delhi CM | New Entry in List
66. Mohan Yadav, 60 – Madhya Pradesh CM | Last Year: 55
67. Bhajan Lal Sharma, 58 – Rajasthan CM | Last Year: 74
68. Sunil Bharti Mittal, 67 – Chairperson, Bharti Group | Last Year: 88
69. Dr. Prathap C. Reddy, 92 – Chairman, Apollo Hospitals | New Entry in List
70. Aravind Srinivas, 30 – CEO, Perplexity | New Entry in List
71. Ajay Kumar Bhalla, 64 – Manipur Governor | New Entry in List
72. Virat Kohli, 36 – Cricketer | Last Year: 38
73. Pawan Kalyan, 53 – AP Deputy CM, Actor | New Entry in List
74. Vijay, 50 – Actor, Politician | New Entry in List
75. TV Somanathan, 59 – Cabinet Secretary | Last Year: 66
76. Nikhil Kamath, 38 – Co-Founder, Zerodha | New Entry in List
77. Sharad Pawar, 84 – NCP Chief | Last Year: 94
78. PK Mishra, 76 – Principal Secretary to PM | Last Year: 52
79. Manoj Sinha, 65 – J&K Lt. Governor | Last Year: 53
80. Kiran Nadar, 74 – Founder, Kiran Nadar Museum | Last Year: 57
81. Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, 53 – Congress MP | Last Year: 62
82. Shashi Tharoor, 69 – Congress MP | Last Year: 84
83. Jasprit Bumrah, 31 – Cricketer | New Entry in List
84. Tuhin Kanta Pandey, 59 – SEBI Chairman | New Entry in List
85. DK Shivakumar, 62 – Karnataka Deputy CM | Last Year: 72
86. Tejashwi Yadav, 35 – Bihar Opposition Leader | Last Year: 73
87. Akhilesh Yadav, 51 – Samajwadi Party Chief | Last Year: 75
88. Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, 57 – Culture & Tourism Minister | Last Year: 70
89. Asaduddin Owaisi, 55 – AIMIM President | Last Year: 78
90. H.D. Kumaraswamy, 65 – Heavy Industries Minister | New Entry in List
91. Kumar Mangalam Birla, 57 – Chairperson, Aditya Birla Group | Last Year: 85
92. Allu Arjun, 42 – Actor | New Entry in List
93. Ramdev, 59 – Yoga Guru, Patanjali | Last Year: 86
94. Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, 61 – Himachal Pradesh CM | Last Year: 90
95. V. Narayanan, 60 – ISRO Chairman | New Entry in List
96. Karan Johar, 52 – Filmmaker | Last Year: 97
97. Shah Rukh Khan, 59 – Actor, Producer | Last Year: 27
98. Diljit Dosanjh, 41 – Actor, Singer | New Entry in List
99. Amitabh Bachchan, 82 – Actor | Last Year: 99
100. Alia Bhatt, 32 – Actor, Producer | Last Year: 79
Summary:
PM Narendra Modi continues to lead India’s power rankings after BJP’s 2024 win, followed by Amit Shah and S. Jaishankar. Rahul Gandhi rises to 9th; Kejriwal drops to 52. Business leaders Adani and Ambani remain strong, while newcomers like Deepinder Goyal and Aravind Srinivas highlight India’s emerging entrepreneurial force.
