Narendra Modi: Being in the news is part of the job for the prime minister. This year, too, Modi managed to retain his position as the most popular and talked about personality in politics. He upped his global popularity quotient in June when he addressed a joint session of the US Congress at Capitol Hill. His speech, which was widely appreciated, got standing ovation. The end of the year saw him facing flak and wide criticism for his demonetisation policy aimed at removing black money from the country, and enabling cashless transactions. The move, referred to as a Tughlaq strategy by many critics, might hurt NaMo and his party in the year to come.
Arvind Kejriwal: The AAP government in Delhi under Arvind Kejriwal's chief ministership completed a year in February. It has pretty much stayed in news throughout the year. Kejriwal and his statements have been the theme of many memes and cartoon strips on social media. The year began with his much-talked-about odd-even traffic regulation to curb pollution in Delhi. He was all over the news when he courted criticism for doubting the veracity of the surgical strikes by the army across the LoC in response to the Uri attack.
Jayalalithaa: The iron lady of Tamil Nadu politics battled all odds and silenced her critics when she became the chief minister of the state for a record sixth term in May. The 'Puratchi Thalaivi', however, made more news this year, not for controversies and administrative decisions, but for her ill health, and eventual death. Jayalalithaa, who was suffering from dehydration and fever, was admitted to Apollo Hospital in Chennai on September 22. Apart from the hospital's medical bulletins which said she was under observation, and later that she was on the path to recovery, not much of what was happening to Jayalalithaa was known to public. Speculations about her condition were rife and those who spread rumours about her health were detained by the police. A crazy editing spree on the Wikipedia page on Jayalalithaa saw users pronouncing her dead. Certain media houses aired the news of her death even before the official declaration came and were forced to take it down. On December 4, she suffered a cardiac arrest and breathed her last the next day, leaving her party, the AIADMK, literally orphaned.
Sushma Swaraj: External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj remained in the news throughout the year for all the right reasons. Swaraj made a mark this year with her hard-hitting speech at the United Nations General Assembly, a week after the Uri attack. Without mincing her words, Swaraj demanded the world isolate Pakistan for being a "terror-aiding" country. Apart from her diplomatic visits, and the speech, Swaraj became the darling of Indians abroad for her active intervention and grievance redressal through Twitter—be it helping a Pakistani bride get to India to meet her husband or helping a baby with an Australian passport extend her Indian visa to spend Diwali with grandparents. Swaraj's affectionate tweets saved the day for many, and were much-talked about on social media.
Kanhaiya Kumar: Kanhaiya Kumar, the firebrand orator who 'demanded azaadi', kickstarted debates on nationalism across the country. President of the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students Union, Kumar became an overnight sensation when he was arrested on the charge of sedition, after anti-India slogans were allegedly raised at the university during a meeting in memory of Afzal Guru, who was hanged in 2013. When he was released on interim bail, Kumar returned to the campus to address thousands of students gathered to hear him. The student leader who has always been critical of Prime Minister Narendra Modi was later roped in by the Left to campaign for assembly elections in Kerala and West Bengal.
Rohith Vemula: It was the silence of death that got everyone talking about 26-year-old Rohith Vemula. On January 17, Vemula, a Dalit research scholar at the University of Hyderabad, hanged himself in his friend's hostel room. Vemula had spent more than 12 days in the open after he was suspended and expelled from the hostel. It was a disciplinary action taken against him and four other PhD students associated with Ambedkar Students Association accused of allegedly assaulting an ABVP leader in August last year. His suicide sparked protests and outrage across India and gained widespread attention as a case of discrimination against Dalits.
Mukesh Ambani: Jio, the 4G high speed broadband connection from Reliance made waves in the telecom sector this year. With data plans claimed to be the cheapest in the world, Ambani's brainchild Jio was the biggest game-changer. It's entry sparked tariff wars among rivals like Idea, Airtel and Vodafone who went on to offer extra data and slashed data charges to retain their consumers. Though data speeds saw a drastic drop after its launch in October, Jio is finding new ways to hold on to its user base. To woo more customers, Reliance has extended its welcome offer of free data and voice calls to March 2017. With more than 52 million subscribers for Jio already, Reliance hopes to attain the ambitious target of 100 million users.
Cyrus Mistry: Mistry's unceremonious removal as chairman of Tata Sons was probably the biggest news from corporate India this year. In a surprise move by the Tatas in October, which drew sharp criticism from experts, Mistry was ousted and stalwart Ratan Tata was back as interim chairman of the company. Various reasons have been speculated for Mistry's removal—his non-performance, dwindling profits, or even his objective to wrest control of Tata group companies from Tata Sons, the holding company. Mistry has also been asked to step down from the boards of Tata companies. In 2011, Mistry had been handpicked to succeeed Ratan Tata with high hopes that he would be the right man to steer the company.
Anurag Kashyap: After the Uri terror attack in October, there was a backlash against the release of Bollywood films with Pakistani artistes. This came right before the release of Karan Johar's Ae Dil Hai Mushkil, which featured Pakistani actor Fawad Khan. Kashyap jumped in to support Johar and ADHM's release. In a series of tweets, he even asked Prime Minister Modi to apologise for his meeting with Pakistan counterpart Nawaz Sharif in 2015 when Johar was shooting the film. The Twitter rant invited the wrath of Modi bhakts on social media.
Salman Khan: His portrayal of a middle-aged wrestler in Sultan this year could be considered one of Salman's best performances. The film broke box office records and even bagged Khan the top spot in Google Trends. Sultan was a much-awaited respite for Sallu Bhai whose acquittal in the hit-and-run case had invited widespread criticism in December 2015. Salman managed to create a controversy with a remark during an interview for Sultan’s promotions. He said he used to feel like a raped woman after the hectic shooting schedule. He also made news when he was named the goodwill ambassador of the Indian contingent for the Rio Olympics, a decision which got positive and negative reactions. At the forefront of the critics were Milkha Singh and Yogeswar Dutt who felt a sportsperson should have been picked instead of Salman.
Anurag Thakur: The ambitious Anurag Thakur was crowned the 34th president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India. The youngest BCCI president, Thakur took over the reigns at a time when the BCCI was battling it out against the Supreme Court's decision of a complete restructuring based on the Lodha committee recommendations. Thakur, in November, submitted a report to the Lodha committee that the board's members have rejected the new memorandum of association and rules.
