Picked from nowhere Dr Manmohan Singh a totally non-political person was made Finance Minister by Narsimha Rao way back in 1991 when the Indian economy was in shambles and sinking.

He along with P Chidambaram the then commerce minister fully backed by their PM not only brought in the cool breeze of liberalisation but effectively freed the Indian economy from a deep mess and won the hearts of the masses. It was perhaps the beginning of new Indian economy with a tag "Brand Manmohan Singh."

He did not have any kind of individual equity, a thoroughly non-controversial person with absolutely no personal ambition but possesses personal loyalty as his core value. This prompted Sonia Gandhi to nominate him to the top post in 2004. For five years, Manmohan has battled the popular perception that he isn't master of himself and that he simply followed the voice of his master Sonia Gandhi. This further enhanced the value of Brand Manmohan Singh in the mind of the Indian public.

Somewhere along the way, Manmohan showed that there were certain things he believed in, and a few things that he was willing to fight for. Then came the final call when he challenged the Left and the BJP.

The nuclear deal, which will remain up there with his other legacy of economic reforms, showed the nation that here was a man with a vision for India.

His firm stand against the Left even at the cost of risking his premiership and his polite and humble reply to BJP's charges further enhanced the value of Brand Manmohan Singh in the public eye.

Saturday's results give Singh a completely different profile; He appears to have acquired a 'brand equity' image. A person who has never taken the bulldozer path, has been following a consultative style which delayed decisions and showed him as unsure and undecided came out as Brand Mamohan Singh which is now here to stay till the PM in waiting Rahul Gandhi finally decides to take over.

He has now got a chance to work on the many pending important things for India's real growth with the Left nowhere to threaten him. Nor will there be Mayawati, Jayalalitha to blackmail him. Mulayam. Lalu and Paswan too have lost their fizzle though Karunanidhi down south is capable of creating some problems now and then on Tamil issues. Many of his detractors in his own party like Arjun Singh have also become toothless. The Indian economy though not as affected as the western countries' needs to be fixed and the volatile neighbourhood needs serious and immediate attention. His ambition to reform the energy and education sector in India needs to be conceptulised and executed. He needs to add the health sector as well in his list of priorities. He now has to go ahead in full steam to reform these three sectors as without these India can never be a force to reckon with in the international arena.

Let us wish him well and also that while keeping his loyalty to India's first political family intact, he becomes more assertive and is able to execute his vision of India which he is nurturing over his years as PM.