PM Narendra Modi seems to have set the agenda for the 2019 elections and that is nothing but development. Following some bold measures taken in the interests of the nation, he has set the stage for the upcoming 2019 elections. Be it the Citizenship Amendment Bill, that also allows non-Muslim refugees from Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bangladesh etc. to apply for Indian citizenship without worry, or the economic reservation for the upper castes, PM Modi led NDA government has left the opposition clueless. If all goes well, one of the handlers of 26/11 attacks, Tahawwur Hussain Rana will also be back in India soon.
In such an enthusiastic environment, it was announced that PM Modi had just received the first ever Philip Kotler Presidential Award. Named after a distinguished marketing professor at the Kellogg School of Management, this award is given to those who have excelled in the domain of leadership, and Narendra Modi is officially the first recipient of the same.
However, not everyone was impressed with this achievement. The usual suspects once again did what they’re best at i.e. mocking PM Modi for his achievements. The Wire in an entirely cryptic post questioned the intent of the people behind this felicitation and suggested that the award might be more of lip service than a genuine award.
To make matters worse, Congress president Rahul Gandhi endorsed the opinionated article, adding his own wisdom in the following tweet:-
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
According to Mr. Rahul Gandhi, this is a fake award, since this is given for the first time, and the event partners happen to be Patanjali and Republic TV. This doesn’t come as a surprise though since Rahul Gandhi is well known for shamelessly peddling lies in the face.
However, not many took this brazen insult lying down. Union Textiles Minister Smriti Irani took a potshot at Rahul Gandhi, replying as follows:-
Rich !!! Coming from a person whose illustrious family decided to confer the ‘Bharat Ratna’ on themselves. https://t.co/ipzyRrXNiX
— Smriti Z Irani (Modi Ka Parivar) (@smritiirani) January 15, 2019
With the following tweet, not only did Smriti Irani paid Rahul Gandhi back in the same coin, but also reminded him of his own lineage, who had no qualms in rewarding self the Bharat Ratna not once, but twice. While Jawaharlal Nehru awarded himself this honor in 1955, Indira Gandhi repeated the feat in 1971, following her ‘contribution’ in the historic victory of the 1971 Indo Pak war. As such, Rahul Gandhi is the last person on earth who should accuse anyone of being subservient of PM Modi. Smriti Irani has, time and again, reminded Rahul of his follies but he seems to be hell-bent on repeating them again and again.
To be honest, even though the opposition claims to be putting up a strong fight against PM Modi for 2019, it has practically run out of ideas in terms of giving him a tough run for the money. Interestingly, Rahul Gandhi had also attempted the same antics in the runup to the assembly elections of UP in 2017. The rest, as they, is history.