Twerking to the top! Miley beats Modi in Time's online poll

Controversial singer Miley Cyrus has been reportedly chosen as the winner for Time magazine’s online poll for the ‘Person of the Year’ title, booting down Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi who is half as popular as the pop icon.

Cyrus has garnered 28.9 per cent votes on the online poll till Wednesday night.

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Modi is the top third contender with 13 per cent votes. He has gathered over 3,00 votes.

On Modi, Time said, "The controversial Hindu nationalist and chief minister of Gujarat is the most likely candidate to unseat India's ruling Congress party in the world's largest democracy."

In a candidate face-off with Japan’s Shizo Abe, Modi secured 93 per cent votes while the latter only 7 per cent.

Modi is the only Indian in the shortlist.

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National Security Advisor whistleblower Edward Snowden stood a close second.

In candidate face-off with United States President Barack Obama in the poll, Snowden received 78 per cent of the votes. The American president, who has been named the Time ‘Person of the Year’ twice received a mere 22 per cent votes till last night.   

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Twenty-one-year old artist has had a headline-grabbing year with her twerk-filled MTV VMAs performance and her nude ‘Wrecking Ball’ video, which earned the record for most views in 24 hours. What’s more? Twerk got added to the Oxford Dictionaries Online this year, thanks to Cyrus.

Time uses its reader poll to keep its finger on the pulse of public sentiment and this year have even added a Twitter component, reports Mashable.   

However, a pair of programmers is trying to rig the poll in favour of Cyrus.

It's unclear how many votes from the 28 per cent have come from the hijacking efforts.

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Will the singer twerk her way to the top?

Time spokesperson told Mashable it will only include legitimate votes in the "final tally.".

According to Mashable, the online poll winner, which will be revealed on December 6, isn’t necessarily the person who becomes Time’s ‘Person of the Year’.  The editors pick the ‘Person of the Year’ and the honour will be announced on December 11.

However, historically the prestigious honour has gone to world leaders and business leaders including US President Barack Obama, Russian President Vladimir Putin, George W Bush and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

Time has shortlisted 42 global leaders, entrepreneurs and celebrities for its 'Person of the Year 2013'.

Among the other candidates are Oscar winner Angelina Jolie, New Jersey governor Chris Christie, Twitter CEO Dick Costolo and J P Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon.

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The youngest contender is Britian’s Prince George. The newborn heir to the British throne captured hearts, said Time. He has been pitted against Pope Francis. 

International Monetary Fund head Christine Lagarde, Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer, Germany's re-elected Chancellor Angela Merkel and Russian President Vladimir Putin are among the other contenders.

Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and Chinese President Xi Jinping are also among those shortlisted.

Chechen brothers Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev, the suspects in the Boston Marathon terror bombings, are in the shortlist too.

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