Banglore's R K Mishra To Lead India

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R K Mishra was announced winner of the reality show 'Lead India', in an initiative at the grand finale held at Noida's Film City on Saturday. Former President A P J Abdul Kalam presented Mishra with a certificate and a cash price worth Rs 50 Lakhs.

Special jury panel for the mega final included RTI activist and Magasaysay award winner Arvind Kejriwal, India's solicitor-general Goolam Vahanvati, BJP spokesperson and former I&B minister Ravi Shankar Prasad and senior Congress leader and former Madhya Pradesh CM Digvijay Singh. They were joined by permanent jury members Kiran Bedi, Javed Akhtar and TOI senior editor Vikas Singh.

Prominent members Amar Singh, Arun Jaitley and Abhishek Manu Singhvi were the chief guests of the function. The grand finale demanded both the final candidates to make a case in one minute. While Nanavati articulated that good governance was not guaranteed by only joining active politics, Misra enlightened his public private partnership model.

One of the jury asked how he would utilize the prize money of Rs 50 Lakh if he won. Misra replied his plan of setting up a cattle farm in his village Sonari in Uttar Pradesh. This farm will not only provide sustainable employment but also serve as a role model for other villages he said.

Mishra also pointed out ineffective implementations in India. There is a lot of talk, but little action. That is why my motto is 'work more, talk less'," said Misra. Finally Misra reiterated Devang Nanavati"s statement, “This is not the end of Lead India. The actual journey has just begun."

Apart from the judges votes, audiences poll and short message services ( SMS ) were also considered to announce the winner. Soumya Mishra, Ujjwal Banerjee, Ranjit Gadgil, Dipayan Dey, Abha Singh and Sanjiv Kaura were the other Lead India finalists.