Most-Searched Indians In 2024: Vinesh Phogat Tops The List
As Google recently released the list of most searched personalities in 2024, wrestler-turned-politician Vinesh Phogat led India, becoming the most searched personality in the country. The popular search engine’s ‘Year In Search 2024’ report showed Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar, who had switched back to the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in January, in the second.
Phogat, who is now a Congress MLA from Haryana, grabbed headlines during the 2023 wrestlers agitation against former Wrestling Federation of India chief Brijbhushan Sharan Singh, also a BJP leader. She was a major figure among fellow Olympians Sakshi Malik and Bajrang Punia, who spearheaded the protest against the former BJP MP for alleged sexual harassment and criminal intimidation.
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During the recent Paris Olympics, Phogat was disqualified from the 50kg freestyle wrestling event due to being overweight by a few grams. Phogat had qualified for the gold medal bout after defeating Yui Susaki of Japan and Oksana Livach in the quarter-finals. After the Court of Arbitration for Sports rejected her appeal, Phogat returned to India, joined the Congress party, contested the election, and won from Haryana’s Julana constituency.
The third most searched Indian personality is Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) head Chirag Paswan. The politician, a BJP ally, is now the minister in the BJP-led Union Government. The fourth most searched figure is Indian allrounder Hardik Pandya. The cricketer bowled the final over of India’s win against South Africa in the final of the WorldT20 held in June this year. He also floated across the news headlines throughout the Indian Premier League for grabbing captaincy from Rohit Sharma.
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Janasena Party chief and actor Pawan Kalyan secured fifth in the list as the Chiranjeevi’s brother made significant leap in the politics in the outgoing year. His party confronted the Andhra Pradesh assembly election in alliance with Chandrababu Naidu’s TDP and emerged as a key player, winning all 21 assembly seats that the party contested, gaining the nickname ‘power star.’ He is now serving as a minister in the TDP-led government in Andhra Pradesh.
Cricketer Shashank Singh, who gained fame after exhibiting stunning performance during the IPL season this year, secured sixth. Modeling star and influencer Poonam Pandey, who faked her own death claiming to raise awareness of cervical cancer as part of a social media campaign, came seventh.
Radhika Merchant, whose marriage with billionaire businessman Mukesh Ambani’s son Anant Ambani, came eighth on the list. The Indian media recurrently featured the grand wedding celebration held in three different stages. Cricketer Abhishek Sharma and badminton player Lakshya Sen came ninth and tenth, respectively, in the list of most searched Indian personalities.
The list showed US president-elect Donald Trump topping the global search ranking, followed by Princess of Wales Catherine and Kamala Harris, respectively.
