Gandhi family conferred Bharat Ratna on themselves: Smriti Irani

NEW DELHI: Hitting back at Rahul Gandhi after his dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for receiving the Philip Kotler Presidential award, BJP leader Smriti Irani Tuesday said that instead of being awarded by others, the Congress chief's "family" had conferred the country's top honour Bharat Ratna "on themselves".

Rahul Gandhi had on Tuesday said he wants to "congratulate" Modi on winning "the world famous" prize that has no jury and has never been given out before and and is backed by an unheard Aligarh company.

In a sharp retort, Union Minister Irani, while tagging Rahul Gandhi's tweet, suggested that unlike Prime Minister Modi, who was awarded by someone else, Gandhi family members had conferred themselves the country's top civilian honour.


"Rich !!! Coming from a person whose illustrious family decided to confer the ‘Bharat Ratna' on themselves," she tweeted, mocking Rahul Gandhi's remark.

Modi received the first-ever Philip Kotler Presidential award here on Monday. 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".