Katrina Kaif and Rahul Gandhi have emerged as India's most eligible single woman and man in a poll conducted by a wedding portal. While Gandhi polled 30 per cent votes, Katrina was preferred by 27.5 per cent respondents.
"It surely feels nice to top such a poll. I really hope I will not remain single forever," smiled Kaif, while reacting to the outcome of the poll by BharatMatrimony. com. She beat Vidya Balan (22.7 per cent votes), Priyanka Chopra (18.7 per cent) and Deepika Padukone (13.3 per cent) to wrest the top spot.
Gandhi, on his part, edged out cricket skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, his vice- captain Yuvraj Singh and Bollywood stars Shahid Kapur and John Abraham to top the year- end poll. While Dhoni polled 21.1 per cent votes, Shahid had 13.4 per cent votes. Interestingly, flavour of the season Ranbir Kapoor finished sixth.
"Rahul Gandhi deserves the top slot. He comes across as a good boy and a thorough gentleman. Plus, there are no past 'stories' about him unlike several cricketers and movie stars," ad guru Prahlad Kakkar said. " For example, a person like Salman Khan is unlikely to top such a list due to his several past encounters with women," he added.
Khan's real-life girlfriend Kaif, however, has no such image problems. "Katrina comes across as a genuine and beautiful person off screen. I feel that really helps her connect with the audience. Unlike other divas, she doesn't wear a mask in real life. Plus, she can easily connect with the youth, which is vital for a star," New York director Kabir Khan said.
Kaif has been topped several surveys of late. Besides topping the annual World's Sexiest Asian Women list by Eastern Eye website, she was also named the ' Google Queen' in a Google India list. Along with Aamir, Rahul Gandhi and Katrina Khan, she also became the most downloaded Bollywood celebrity.
Around 22,000 netizens participated in the poll, including well- known names from politics, sports, fashion and entertainment. The lists featured Vijay Mallya's son Siddharth, politician Milind Deora and Miss India Pooja Chopra. Coming back to Kaif, the buzz is strong that Kaif has been getting close to Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani co- star Ranbir Kapoor after his "break- up" with Deepika Padukone.