MUMBAI: BBC South Asia's focused news site (www.bbcnews.com/southasia) has announced an online poll for the most important leader in South Asia in modern times. Out of the 16 leaders, five are Indians. The online poll was launched on 20 December and gives the readers a chance to have their say.

Arjun Rana from Delhi says, "Subhash Chandra Bose has to be the greatest since he galvanised millions into fighting colonial rule." Faiz Hakim from New York, USA feels, "Jinnah was a great leader but with a narrow vision of what was rightfully the heritage of Muslims in the sub-continent." Nooman Naqvi from Chicago, on the other hand opines, "General Pervez Musharraf is the greatest leader of South Asia. He has turned Pakistan's economy around, eliminated corruption, gave equal voting rights to religious minorities and had the guts to take on the fundamentalists."

The result of the poll will be announced in early 2005.

The list of leaders is as follows: Ahmed Shah Masood (Afghanistan), Atal Bihari Vajpayee (India), JR Jayawardene (Sri Lanka), BP Koirala (Nepal), Chandrika Kumaratunga (Sri Lanka), Indira Gandhi (India), Jawahar Lal Nehru (India), Mahatma Gandhi (India), Muhammad Ali Jinnah (Pakistan), Sheikh Mujibur Rahman (Bangladesh), Sirimavo Bandaranaike (Sri Lanka), Subhash Chandra Bose (India), Zulfikar Ali Bhutto (Pakistan), Ziaur Rahman (Bangladesh), Zahir Shah (Afghanistan) and Zia ul Haq (Pakistan).