india

Updated: Jan 15, 2019 14:43 IST

Congress president Rahul Gandhi today took a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi who received the Philip Kotler Presidential award on Monday saying he wanted to “congratulate” him on winning “the world famous” prize that has no jury and has never been given out before.

The award focuses on the triple bottom-line of ‘people, profit and planet’. It will be offered annually to the leader of a nation, a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office said. According to the award citation, Modi was selected for his “outstanding leadership for the nation”.

I want to congratulate our PM, on winning the world famous "Kotler Presidential Award"!



In fact it's so famous it has no jury, has never been given out before & is backed by an unheard of Aligarh company.



Event Partners: Patanjali & Republic TV :)https://t.co/449Vk9Ybmz — Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) January 15, 2019

The Congress chief’s dig at the PM evoked a sharp response from Union textiles minister Smriti Irani who accused the Gandhi family of conferring Bharat Ratna awards on its members.

Rich !!! Coming from a person whose illustrious family decided to confer the ‘Bharat Ratna’ on themselves. https://t.co/ipzyRrXNiX — Smriti Z Irani (@smritiirani) January 15, 2019

Earlier on Monday, Irani and other senior BJP leaders including Union minister Piyush Goyal , chief minister of Manipur N. Biren Singh, and former chief ministers Raman Singh and Vasundhara Raje – were swift to congratulate the prime minister on social media for winning the newly instituted award.

“Shri Narendra Modi is selected for his outstanding leadership for the nation. His selfless service towards India, combined with his tireless energy has resulted in extraordinary economic, social and technological advances in the country, ” the Kotler award citation said.

The citation added: “Under his leadership, India is now identified as the Centre for Innovation and Value Added Manufacturing (Make in India), as well as a global hub for professional services such as Information Technology, Accounting and Finance.”