Beating veteran political leaders like Lal Krishna Advani and megastar Amitabh Bachchan, India's 'Metro Man' E Sreedharan has emerged as the top choice of IndiaToday.in readers for India's next President.

Close to 11,000 people voted in the online survey in which over one-third are in favour of former Delhi Metro chief E Sreedharan to take up the top constitutional post.

IndiaToday.in had yesterday reported how the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) may pick Sreedharan as the ruling BJP-led NDA's candidate for the president's post in the July 17 election.

In the IndiaToday.in poll of online readers, Sreedharan, the much-admired engineer and technocrat who won accolades for finishing the Delhi Metro project within budget and on time, got 4,659 votes out of 11,802.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, whose name has also been doing the rounds in political circles, was the second-most popular candidate for the post. More than 15 percent votes were polled in her favour.

Sushma Swaraj was closely followed by BJP patriarch LK Advani who garnered more than 13 percent votes.

Founder Chairman of Infosys N R Narayana Murthy managed to get about 11 percent votes on his side.

Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat, who is the first choice of BJP ally Shiv Sena for the coveted post, got about 5 percent votes.

Megastar Amitabh Bachchan, whose fan following cross generations and geographical boundaries, stood way behind these stalwarts. Less than 5 percent of Indiatoday.in readers want him as India's 14th President.

Other candidates in the list included BJP veteran Murli Manohar Joshi, incumbent President Pranab Mukherjee, scholar and former West Bengal Governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi, and jurist Fali S Nariman.

SREEDHARAN

Sreedharan's choice of IndiaToday.in readers reflect that people prefer a non-political person for the job at Rashtrapati Bhavan.

One of India's most popular presidents in the recent history has been space scientist Dr APJ Abdul Kalam, also known as 'Missile Man'.

The 'Metro Man' has however been humble enough to say that he doesn't think he is competent enough to be president.

Sreedharan has also denied that any discussions has taken place regarding his candidature for the presidential election so far.

Both the two major political parties - BJP and Congress - are yet to officially announce any names for the presidential election. Attempts are however being made from both sides to try and have a consensus candidate for Raisina Hill.

Senior BJP leaders Rajnath Singh and M Venkaiah Naidu today met Congress President Sonia Gandhi to build a common ground. However, no names were finalised.The names of candidates will have to be finalised before June 28 which is the last date to make nomination.

President Pranab Mukherjee's term ends on July 24. If needed the voting for choosing India's next president will be held on July 17 while counting will be on July 20.

Only members of the electoral college are eligible to vote in the presidential election. A total of 4896 voters including 4120 MLAs and 776 elected MPs are eligible to cast their ballot.

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