Kejriwal named among world’s 50 greatest leaders by Fortune

Arvind Kejriwal has been named among the world’s 50 greatest leaders by Fortune magazine with the Delhi Chief Minister being the sole Indian leader on the list topped by Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos.

Fortune’s third annual ‘World’s 50 Greatest Leaders’ list features men and women from across the globe from the fields of business, government, philanthropy and the arts who are “transforming the world and inspiring others to do the same.”

47-year-old Aam Aadmi Party chief is ranked 42nd on the list and is the sole leader from India.

However, South Carolina’s Indian-American Governor Nikki Haley is also on the list at 17th while another Indian-American Resham Saujani is at the 20th spot.

Fortune credits Mr. Kejriwal for his efforts to curb pollution in New Delhi through the scheme of allowing vehicles of odd and even numbers on alternate days on the city’s roads.

“When Kejriwal unveiled a blueprint to tackle the smog in New Delhi — called the world’s most polluted city by the World Health Organization — many were sceptical. A key component: an ‘odd-even’ pilot project in which vehicles were allowed on the roads only on alternate days.”

“The uplifting result of the pilot this January: roads were less clogged, hourly particulate air pollution concentrations dropped by 13 per cent, and citizens could breathe deep,” Fortune said.

It said leadership is not “demagoguery, pandering, even populism” but is defined by people across the world “you’ve never heard of who are rallying followers to make life better in ways you never imagined.”

“…the New Delhi ‘government official’ risking his career to fight pollution; the Italian mayor welcoming Middle East migrants to his tiny town-improving its economy and brightening their prospects,” the US-based magazine said in a reference to Mr. Kejriwal and Domenico Lucano, the Mayor of the Italian town of Riace, who was ranked 40th on the list.

“The leaders you’ll meet here, known and new, will lift your mood and upgrade your assessment of the world’s future. Some may inspire you to join their followers. And those unheard-ofs, so seemingly ordinary, may even prompt you to rethink your own potential as an inspiring leader,” Fortune said.

Mr. Bezos, who topped the list this year, has been on the list all three times, along with Pope Francis who comes in at the 4th position followed by Apple CEO Tim Cook.

The list includes German Chancellor Angela Merkel (2), Myanmar’s pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi at (3), US astronaut Scott Kelly and Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko (22), IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde (36), Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Co-chair and CEO Melinda Gates and Susan Desmond-Hellmann (41), Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (48) and Bhutanese Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay (50).

Here’s the list released by Fortune:

1. Jeff Bezos – CEO, Amazon

2. Angela Merkel – Chancellor, Germany

3. Aung San Suu Kyi – Leader, National League for Democracy

4. Pope Francis – Pontiff, Roman Catholic Church

5. Tim Cook – CEO, Apple

6. John Legend – Recording artist and activist, The Show Me Campaign

7. Christiana Figueres – Executive Secretary, UN Framework Convention on Climate Change

8. Paul Ryan – Speaker, U.S. House of Representatives

9. Ruth Bader Ginsburg – Associate Justice, U.S. Supreme Court

10. Sheikh Hasina – Prime Minister, Bangladesh

11. Nick Saban – Head football coach, The University of Alabama

12. Huateng “Pony” Ma – Chairman and CEO, Tencent

13. Sergio Moro – Federal Judge, Brazil

14. Bono – Lead singer & Co-Founder, U2 & One

15. Stephen Curry & Steve Kerr – Point guard & head coach, Golden State Warriors

16. Bryan Stevenson – Founder, Equal Justice Initiative

17. Nikki Haley – Governor, South Carolina

18. Lin-Manuel Miranda – Composer, lyricist & author, “Hamilton”

19. Marvin Ellison – CEO, J.C. Penney

20. Reshma Saujani – Founder & CEO, Girls Who Code

21. Larry Fink – CEO, BlackRock

22. Scott Kelly & Mikhail Kornienko – Crew members, International Space Station

23. David Miliband – CEO, International Rescue Committee

24. Anna Maria Chávez – CEO, Girl Scouts of the USA

25. Carla Hayden – Nominee, Library of Congress

26. Maurizio Macri – President, Argentina

27. Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors & Opal Tometi – Co-founders, Black Lives Matter

28. Chai Jing – Freelance journalist, China

29. Moncef Slaoui – Chairman of Vaccines, GlaxoSmithKline

30. John Oliver – Host & Executive Producer, “Last Week Tonight”

31. Marc Edwards – Professor, Virginia Tech

32. Arthur Brooks – President, American Enterprise Institute

33. Rosie Batty – Founder, Luke Batty Foundation

34. Kristen Griest & Shayne Haver – Rangers, U.S. Army

35. Denis Mukwege – Founder, Panzi Hospital

36. Christine Legarde – Managing Director, IMF

37. Marc Benioff – CEO, Salesforce

38. Gina Raimondo – Governor, Rhode Island

39. Amina Mohammed – Minister of Environment, Nigeria

40. Domenica Lucano – Mayor, Riace, Italy

41. Melinda Gates & Susan Desmond-Hellman – Co-chair & CEO, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

42. Arvind Kejriwal – Chief Minister, New Delhi

43. Jorge Ramos – Journalist, Univision

44. Michael Froman – U.S. Trade Representative, Executive Office of the President

45. Mina Guli – CEO, Thirst

46. Ramón Mendéz – Head of Climate Change Policy, Uruguay

47. Bright Simons – President & Founder, Mpedigree

48. Justin Trudeau – Prime Minister, Canada

49. Clare Rewcastle Brown – Editor & Founder, Sarawak Report

50. Tshering Tobgay – Prime Minister, Bhutan