It was surely not Natwar Singh’s intention. But he has helped the Congress. His serial invectives against the prime minister has engendered a slew of supportive statements for Manmohan Singh from the party. Look back only a few weeks — during the Narmada controversy, during the so-called inflation crisis, during the brief period farmers’ suicides occupied mind space in Delhi, during the disinvestment debate — and the difference becomes clear. Then, senior Congress leaders, including some ministers, were happy to trash the government (they essentially meant the prime minister) on ‘vote losing’ policies. And they were undoubtedly encouraged by the lack of clear, public statements of support from 10 Janpath. Sonia Gandhi may not have agreed with some of her senior colleagues, she may not have wanted the prime minister to be made to look vulnerable to cabinet ministerial intrigue, but her silence was interpreted as eloquent by those talking up the government-party divide.

Now that Sonia Gandhi has backed the prime minister, and that too at an election preparation rally in UP — the heart of the `aam aadmi’ country — and now that inevitably other Congress leaders have followed suit, the party president and her senior colleagues should ensure that this moment of sensible politics survives Natwar Singh fading away from the headlines. That means the Congress will need to realise that the prime minister deserves support even when he’s not being attacked personally. Such a realisation would be easier were senior Congress leaders to consider the following.

... contd.