Rahul top online newsmaker of 2009 on Yahoo!

New Delhi, Dec 2: With his popularity reaching great heights, Congress general secretary, Rahul Gandhi has been voted as the top online newsmaker of 2009 on Yahoo! India News.

Talking about the selection Yahoo! said that Rahul's untiring effort to revive the Congress Party has been one of the criteria to make him the top contender.

"Some of the key stories for Rahul to be the top newsmaker for the year included pulling up the sagging fortunes of the Congress party in Uttar Pradesh, tirelessly working towards making the Congress a youth-oriented party and repudiate Manmohan Singh's offer to take a seat in Cabinet amongst others," the company said.

Rahul headed the newsmaker category after beating Bollywood beauty Katrina Kaif who had to settle for the second spot.

IPL chairman Lalit Modi was ranked third, followed by Oscar winner AR Rahman, while Item girl Rakhi Sawant had to be satisfied with the fifth spot.

The editorial team of the popular website came up with the list of top five newsmakers taking into consideration the number of search done on particular news items and the time spent on a particular page on the website by the users.

Among other categories, Delhi High Court verdict on gay rights, Mumbai sea-bridge and the swine flu attack topped the event category.

News on Andhra Pradesh chief minister Y S Rajasekhar Reddy, Maharani Gayatri Devi, pop legend Michael Jackson, famous British reality show star Jade Goody and umpire David Shepherd were the most searched items in the farewell category.

OneIndia News