Rahul Gandhi, Hema Malini top political style icons' chart

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and actress-turned-politician Hema Malini of the BJP have been elected the 'Political Style Icons of the country' by over 14,000 students of a fashion institute.

Rahul, who was voted by the students of Inter National Institute of Fashion Design from across its 156 centres in the country, defeated his nearest rival former cricketer and BJP leader Navjot Singh Sidhu by over 33 per cent votes.

Also in the race were two of the young Congress members-- Jyotiraditya Scindia and Sachin Pilot-- besides Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah.

"Interestingly, 90 per cent of the voters were female in the age group of 19-23 and Gandhi had garnered a total of 50 per cent votes," IIFD vice president (corporate) Aditi Srivastava said.

UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi was, however, not lucky enough as she lost out to Hema Malini for being the 'Political Style Icon of India' in the female category.

"The dark-coloured Kanjivaram sarees and glowing skin of never-ageing Hema Malini attracted the youth," Srivastava said, adding that Gandhi was running neck-to-neck with the Bollywood star and "thereby proving that her cotton-saree look has also many takers amongst the young designers".

While Hema grabbed 47 per cent votes, Sonia could manage 31 per cent and was followed by Samajawadi leader and actress Jayapradha (10 per cent) and former Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhara Raje Scindia(seven per cent).