Ever since Manmohan Singh became India's Prime Minister in 2004, he has been mocked as a puppet of Sonia Gandhi, the Italian-born Congress Party leader who turned down the chance to head the government.

But after winning a no-confidence vote in parliament yesterday, the softly-spoken 75-year-old economist has emerged as a politician in his own right – and a courageous and controversial one at that.

The question is to what extent the bribery allegations surrounding his victory will hamper his plans to push forward economic reforms and to activate the nuclear deal with the United States that triggered the confidence vote.

Indian media hailed his victory this morning, while lamenting the spectacle of opposition MPs waving wads of cash in parliament, saying they had been offered £1.1 million to abstain in yesterday's vote.

One television station even marked the result by playing the theme tune to "Singh is King" – a new Bollywood film about an Indian mafia don in Australia.

"PM nukes opposition" read a headline in one national daily. "Shame" read another.

Mr Singh had repeatedly staked his reputation on the deal, agreeing it with President Bush in 2005, publicly challenging its opponents last year, and even threatening to resign over it earlier this year.

"I don't know if Singh is king but he is certainly the new Singh," said Gautam Adhikari, a former Executive Editor of The Times of India.

"The way he walked, carried himself and spoke, his whole demeanor seems to have changed. He is by and large a quiet person who doesn't like to project himself too much but he is finally being more assertive."

The Prime Minister's transformation was highlighted by his speech at the end of a raucous two-day debate in parliament yesterday.

Although he could not deliver it because of opposition heckling, a copy was given to the Speaker and posted on the Prime Minister's website.

In it, he mocked L.K. Advani, the 80-year-old leader of the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), who had called him a weak Prime Minister who could do nothing without Mrs Gandhi's permission.

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