Amid row over Prime Minister Narendra Modi receiving the Philip Kotler Presidential Award, the marketing guru, after whom the award is named, listed the reasons why the Indian leader was chosen.

Philip Kotler wrote that Prime Minister Modi stood the highest in the criteria used to select a winner. “He has improved his country’s image and visibility on the global stage. A committee voted on possible leaders given the criteria. The final decision was mine”, he wrote after political sparring followed in India following the announcement of the award.

I was involved in a misunderstanding with the Indian media. Confusion over the award presented to India's PM @narendramodi by my friend Jag Sheth and The World Marketing Summit. Here's my @marketingjour interview to clear up the confusion: https://t.co/rHmnv86QU2

— Philip Kotler (@kotl) January 15, 2019

Tweeting the link of his interview “to clear all the confusion over the award” presented to Modi, Kotler listed the criteria used for the selection. He wrote, the Kotler leader is one who:

•believes in representative government and in social justice.

•believes that a good society will build a healthy business climate.

•encourages businesses to practice the triple bottom line, namely to balance profits, people, and the planet in their deliberations.

•sincerely and wholeheartedly works for the Common Good.

Kotler’s post came after Congress President tweeted a tongue-in-cheek congratulatory message. “In fact it’s (the award) so famous it has no jury, has never been given out before and is backed by an unheard of Aligarh company,” Rahul Gandhi posted.

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

Union Minister Smriti Irani bristled back pointing out the Gandhi family gave all awards to themselves.

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

Prof. Philip Kotler is a world renowned Professor of Marketing at Northwestern University, Kellogg School of Management. Owing to his ill-health, Jagdish Sheth of EMORY University, Georgia, US, was deputed to confer the award.

First Published: Jan 16, 2019 13:02 IST