In apparent overtures to the Congress, expelled SP leader Amar Singh has heaped praise on Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul, saying that the development of the country was supreme on their minds.

With the exit of Amar Singh, Congress managers have turned soft on Mulayam Singh Yadav's Samajwadi Party seeing in it a potential ally if Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress turns troublesome in the future.

Costlier potatoes and pulses pushed food inflation higher to 17.56 per for the week ended January 23 and economists expect prices to rise further in the next two to three weeks.

Despite his praises for the party, Congress today gave a cold-shoulder to Amar Singh, saying his expulsion from Samajwadi Party was an internal matter of SP and any decision on anyone's induction is taken by the party top brass.

Calling the expulsion of Amar Singh as wrong which would hurt the party, Jaya Bachchan said on Monday that she would quit the Samajwadi party and Rajya Sabha if asked by it's President Mulayam Singh.