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.

First, no party that attacks its own government gets brownie points from voters. Second, since the economy can’t grow healthily without reforms and since a weakening of growth impulses won’t fetch the Congress extra votes, Manmohan Singh’s policies are negotiable in only one way — initiating more reforms. Third, the Congress’s biggest problems have nothing to do with Manmohan Singh’s policies. In UP and Bihar, the party is in a so far fruitless search for inspiration. In Gujarat, Narendra Modi is more worried about BJP dissidents. In MP, the BJP’s troubles haven’t meant gains for the Congress. In Punjab, the Akalis seem ready to bounce back. Manmohan Singh, arguably, can’t help the party in these cases. But neither can the senior Congressmen, backroom operators all, who gripe about him.