Sunday, February 6 2005 14:53 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: Chhattisgarh's Raman Singh has been rated as the best Chief Minister in the country while his Kerala counterpart Oommen Chandy ranked the lowest in an opinion poll conducted by India Today-A C Nielsen-ORG Marg.

According to the survey published in the latest edition of 'India Today', Singh was adjudged the best Chief Minister, followed by his Orissa counterpart Naveen Patnaik and Punjab's Amarinder Singh.

Interestingly, high-profile Delhi Chief Minister figures almost at the bottom of the list, just above Bihar's Rabri Devi who ranked 18.

The poll, conducted in 19 States, places Uttaranchal Chief Minister Narayan Dutt Tiwari at four, Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh at five and Karnataka Chief Minister Dharam Singh in the sixth slot.

Haryana Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala, who is again trying his luck at the hustings, has been ranked seven, followed by Andhra Pradesh's Y S R Reddy and Buddhadev Bhattacharjee of West Bengal, both tied at eight.

The Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi and Rajasthan's Vasundhara Raje have both been placed at tenth rung.

Jharkhand Chief Minister Arjun Munda is ranked 12, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav is placed at 13, followed by Madhya Pradesh's Babulal Gaur 14.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa occupies the 15th position and Tarun Gogoi of Assam is rated 16th.

In the survey, people were asked to rate their Chief Minister's work as excellent, good, bad, average. The ratings were prepared by accumulating 'excellent' and 'good' rating points and then subtracting 'bad' points from it.