On a day when he was slammed, Mani Shankar Aiyer gets shout-out from Rahul Gandhi

Parliamentarian Mani Shankar Aiyer was widely denounced today by most politicians. But one - Rahul Gandhi - singled him out for rich praise. At a meeting of thousands of Congress workers in Delhi, Mr Gandhi, who will lead the Congress's election campaign, asked in his speech, "Where is Mani Shankar Aiyar?" and then in a verbal equivalent of fist-bump praised the 72-year-old for his effort in strengthening panchayati raj or grassroots democracy, a cause that Mr Gandhi highlighted as close to the heart of his father, Rajiv, who was assassinated in 1991.