"In an unexpected twist, the humble 'cow' emerged as 'Personality of the Year', trumping other high-profile contenders for the top spot," Yahoo said in a statement on its "Year in Review" for India which captures the year's top trends, happenings and events.
"It started with the Maharashtra government announcing a ban on sale of beef in the state - a move which led to massive debates online and offline, spiralling into the 'beef controversy'," it said.
The Dadri mob lynching, award wapsi - eminent writers returning national awards - and numerous discussions centred on 'intolerance' further propelled the bovine to claim the overall top spot, the statement said.
For the fourth consecutive year, among the most searched female celebrities in showbiz, former adult movie actor Sunny Leone stood first, pushing Bollywood beauties Katrina Kaif and Deepika Padukone to the second and third spots, while Salman Khan emerged as the top male celebrity.
Though the high-profile Delhi and Bihar assembly elections created a lot of buzz in the political scene, Prime Minister Narendra Modi came first as the most searched Indian politician, the statement said.
In the most searched news events category, terrorist organisation Islamic State, late former president A.P.J. Abdul Kalam and cricket's showpiece event ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 took the top three slots, respectively.
As usual, cricketers were the most searched sportspersons in India.
M.S. Dhoni claimed the first position, while tennis sensation Sania Mirza made the cut for the first time with her high-octane doubles performances partnering Swiss star Martina Hingis, the statement said.
Interestingly, bilingual period film "Bahubali" was the No.1 among the most searched movies.
Yahoo also listed the top 10 positions for the most searched gadgets, epic selfies of 2015, bike launches, best Instagram account, top Bollywood moments and top fashion trends of 2015.
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