Rahul showers praises on PM at Punjab rally

Having embarrassed Prime Minister Manmohan Singh by terming a government ordinance on convicted politicians as "nonsense", Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi Thursday showered praises on him, saying "what he (prime minister) had done for the country, no one has done".

Addressing a public rally near this Punjab town, Rahul Gandhi said: "You (Punjab) have given Manmohan Singh to us. What Manmohan Singh has done for the country, no one else has done."

"I have two gurus in politics. The Congress president (Sonia Gandhi) and Manmohan Singh. Punjab has given one of these gurus," Rahul told the gathering.

Rahul, who recently said in New Delhi that the ordinance on convicted politicians, brought by the Manmohan Singh government, was "nonsense" and need to be "torn and thrown", had a faint smile on his face as he broached the controversial remark on the ordinance. 

He said: "I was joking with the prime minister after the ordinance (controversy) and I told him what was in my heart. I told him what we have learnt from you." Pointing out that clear intentions and conscience were needed in politics, Rahul said: "Manmohan Singh has clear intentions."

The Congress leader said the UPA government had empowered the common people of the country through its programmes like right to information (RTI), food security bill, right to education (RTE) and the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act."Our politics is that of empowerment. We want to empower the common people. The opposition does not want to empower you," he said.

"The RTI has empowered you. You can ask me, Amarinder Singh, Pratap Singh Bajwa and Ghulam Nabi Azad under it," he said.He said that the UPA government has changed the structure of development in the country since it came to power in 2004.