Amethi: It was a new experience for the people of the tiny Bubupur Mangali village of the constituency to see their young M P Rahul Gandhi sitting at puja like an obedient child chanting Vedic mantra at the instruction of the priest.

The occasion was the laying of the foundation stone of a three-link road project by him in the village in his Lok Sabha constituency on the first day of his three-day visit.

Though the programme was scheduled at 14:00 hrs (local time) Rahul kept the people and the two priests waiting for over two hours.

As the crowd shouted slogans, the young Congress, MP, sat down obediently to offer the puja, preceding the foundation stone laying ceremony.

As he was about to sit on the mattress with his shoes on, the priest asked him to take them off.

"Puja ho rahi hai bhai (I am offering puja) Rahul quipped when a battery of photo journalists gathered there and asked him to face the cameras.

The priest applied the customary tilak on Rahul's forehead, tied the raksha cord and began chanting the mantras.

The Congress MP with his eyes closed and hands folded in reverence also chanted as and when asked by the priest.

After the puja was over, he broke the coconut marking the beginning of the new road project and also accepted the prasad.

Rahul was at his charming best as he went into a teashop, some houses and freely mingled with the crowds at Rani Ganj, Daultapur and several other villages on his way to Munshiganj guesthouse near Amethi.