It is instructive to see what Dr Singh is praising Vajpayee for. He has done so for the latter’s “courageous” steps to foster peace with Pakistan. Kindly note that the praise for Vajpayee is not for what was indeed the most courageous act of his six-year premiership — namely, the NDA government’s decision to conduct nuclear tests at Pokharan in May 1998 and make India a nuclear weapons power.

Dr Singh had opposed Vajpayee’s decision at the time in the Rajya Sabha.

The Hyde Act, which governs the Indo-US nuclear deal, clearly bars India from conducting any further nuclear tests. It seeks to bring India into the NPT regime. Vajpayee’s courage lay in the fact that he had defied pressure from the US and other global powers to conduct Pokharan II. Hence, as per the plot hatched, Vajpayee is now expected to act according to his “conscience” and support a deal which, as the BJP has rightly said, threatens to undo the legacy of his greatest achievement.

In all his four years at the helm of government, Dr Singh has never shown flashes of political leadership. Indeed, he has scrupulously left that job to Sonia Gandhi and remained content with working as the CEO of the government apparatus. In any case, he has never been a professional politician. Therefore, if he has suddenly tried his hand at something as wily as praising Vajpayee and attacking L.K. Advani, one can only surmise that the Congress party is being advised by someone not only to confront the Left but also to make the BJP take a highly embarrassing U-turn on an issue on which it has so far taken a principled, pro-nation stand.