Narendra Modi
India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi.Reuters

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has won readers' poll for TIME magazine's Person of the Year but has failed to make it to the editors' choice. 

Modi won the readers' poll with 16% of the almost five million votes cast. Ferguson protesters in the US, who took to the streets over the shooting of an unarmed teenager by police, finished second with 9% votes.

However, there is some bad news for his admirers. The Indian prime minister is out of the race for the "Person of the Year" title decided by the magazine's editors as he did not make it to the eight finalists whose names were announced on Monday.

A strong participation by readers from India helped Modi win the poll. More people from India voted than from any other country, with the exception of the United States, according to the magazine.

Apart from Modi and Ferguson protesters, Hong Kong protest leader Joshua Wong, Nobel Peace Prize-winner Malala Yousafzai and the doctors and nurses treating Ebola victims were among the top five subjects of this year that readers were most interested in.

TIME managing editor Nancy Gibbs revealed the shortlist of 2014 Person of the Year on NBC's Today show on Monday. Eight most trending topics and personalities of 2014 have been named in the final list.

Ferguson protesters have topped the editors' shortlist, where second position has been given to the Ebola caregivers, who are fighting against the deadly virus by treating the patients in Africa, where at least 7,000 people have already succumbed to the disease.

The Russian President Vladimir Putin is editors' third choice. Putin "remained in the headlines throughout this year, from his country's stewardship of the Winter Olympics in Sochi to its annexation of Crimea, and its role in the ongoing civil strife in eastern Ukraine."

Fourth most trending news subject of this year is Taylor Swift "who shook up the music industry by pulling her music from streaming service Spotify, which she believes should compensate artists more."

Jack Ma follows Swift as TIME editors fifth favourite. Jack Ma, who is now the CEO of Alibaba, the Chinese e-commerce giant which debuted a $25 billion IPO, started his career as an English teacher.

The first gay Fortune 500 CEO, Tim Cook is the sixth contender. Cook introduced Apple's iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, Apple Watch, and Apple Pay this year in 2014.

The seventh contender is the acting president of the Iraqi Kurdish Region, Masoud Barzani, who has been fighting against the Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria for the independence of Iraq.

The National Football League commissioner, Roger Goodell, is the last and eighth contender in the TIME's editors' list. Goodell is in new this year for all the controversies the league is surrounded with. Domestic abuse by players such as Ray Rice is one among several other controversies.

The winner's name will be announced on Wednesday by Nancy Gibbs on NBC's Today show.