Its West v/s South in Lead India final

The 'Lead India' final encounter is between Ahmedabad's Devang Nanavati and Bangalore's R K Misra in New Delhi at 8.00 pm on February 9 and the episode will be aired live on Star One. Guests during the finale include Arun Jaitley, Abhishek Manu Singhvi, Jaipal Reddy, Ambika Soni, Nitish Kumar, Javed Akhtar, Kiran Bedi, Aruindum Sengupta and Sitaram Yechuria amongst others.

In last week's episode RK Misra's five-point agenda included focusing on education and health, with special emphasis on primary education and rural health; educating farmers on sustainable farming and rural employment generation; speeding up infrastructure and industrial development; review of laws dealing with terrorism and ensuring responsive governance and removal of corruption. Kiran Bedi was not too happy with the manifesto and said that it offered nothing new and has no mention of important issues like police and electoral reforms. But Javed Akhtar thought otherwise.

Incidentally, Devang Nanavati's manifesto too echoed Misra's. He also stressed on education, internal security as well as the need to focus on rural economy. He put forth the point that sports other than cricket should be promoted and that it was necessary to create civic awareness in society. Although his manifesto did not appeal to all the judges, it ended in a close contest. Misra got 36 points, with Nanavati just 5 points behind at 31. Now it is hoped that things will definitely get more exciting, at the grand finale.

As the final battle brews on, the two finalists will be seen presenting their 'dream projects' for India, which they intend to undertake with the Rs 50 lakh prize money!

Apart from the grand prize for the selected leader of India, other awards for outstanding performances through different missions in other episodes will also be presented to the contenders on the occasion. The grand finale will also be the occasion to give away the Cheevening scholarship from the London University (previously announced by the British High Commissioner) to the three runners-up. All this and more will take place in the presence of the most famous personalities from the field of politics, science, Bollywood among others.

Who will walk away with the grand prize? Who will be elected as the true leader of India? Watch the grand finale of The Times of India's 'Lead India' at 8.00 pm on February 9 only on Star One! So, tune in and vote for the man whom you think will lead us to a better India.