It is already going to be a Herculean job to retain numbers in the next elections in the normal course. The party runs the risk of getting wiped out if elections are held earlier. Some of the other UPA constituents could cling on to power by shifting to a new coalition, but that is not an option before Congress. Failure to demonstrate a simple majority in this session could definitely have led to early elections. Advancing of elections is still a fair possibility, if the ‘deals’ made for winning are not ‘honoured’.

What made Singh’s move particularly incongruous was that it was entirely avoidable. Firstly, the risk of possible total rout was not accompanied by any commensurate rewards for securing a yes vote. There was no tearing urgency to go to IAEA, as there is only a dim possibility of the nuke deal being wrapped up before Bush demits office. The issue is most likely to be reviewed by any administration that succeeds him.

True, a positive makes India’s proposal to IAEA ’official’, so that the governing council of the United Nations (UN) watchdog may debate it at its next meeting on August 1. But then, even if an instant IAEA approval is managed, a separate agreement is necessary to be struck with Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), the countries that export nuclear material. Many NSG countries, with far more advanced nuclear technology than India’s, are critical of "a clear, clean and unconditional" NSG exemption India wants. Detractors object to clauses with ambiguous wording, which could limit international monitoring of New Delhi’s civilian facilities and lack of guarantees against fissile material going to weapons program. Only after NSG clearance can the deal go to US Congress.

More importantly, even if the deal does get the US seal of approval during the tenure of the UPA government – a very big if – it is unlikely to translate into any electoral advantage to Congress, irrespective of the timing of elections.

Secondly, Congress has always benefited from voters sympathetic to leftist views in every state. Although the Communists may not win on their own strength, they have definitely given the winning edge with seat adjustments. Squandering that could be suicidal. What is more, the comrades, whose formal withdrawal of ‘outside’ support triggered the crisis, are not known for shortsighted nationalist jingoism. Diverting scarce resources needed to ameliorate miseries of the masses to weapons development is not in their agenda. Their only objection was that the deal ties India too closely with the US. The leadership fears being perceived by cadres as ‘collaborators’ of US by appearing to oblige ‘President Bush!. Most Indian Marxists still live in a cold war time warp when US was the imperialist enemy of their ideals, China and Russia.

Thirdly, Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP), the Hindu nationalist outfit leading the opposition NDA, has explicitly declared it is not against a "very close relationship" with America. After all, the dialogue was actually initiated during NDA regime after it conducted nuke tests in 1998. There was no other option otherwise to lighten the crippling sanctions in the wake of the abandonment of ‘self-imposed’ 24-year moratorium on proliferation.

It is not that Indian politicians are eggheads, unable to understand realities on the ground. And Singh, who has never won an election in lifetime for enjoying top posts, apparently made the blunder of underestimating the Machiavellian calibre they are endowed with.

They are aware that roll back of India’s weapon program is imminent and is not conditional upon ‘sovereign’ decisions they take in their wisdom. The plight of Iran and North Korea, and Iraq earlier, which quiver under anti-proliferation pressures even after eschewing nuke weapons and signing Non Proliferation Treaty (NPT) is well known. It is also not lost on them that Indians are basically timid and not as fanatically committed to tribal sentiments.

Last of all, Indian lawmakers and administrators very well understand that multi-million dollar projects in the nuke sector will also mean multi-million dollar kickbacks! Being foreign money, they will not depend on the mingy Indian exchequer!

The only constituency in India that wages a ‘genuine’ fight against the opening up of nuclear power sector are the bosses and staff of dysfunctional nuclear establishments. They dread accountability as showing off flop shows as blue chips will end, like it happened in other sectors like telecom, aviation, and steel. But, Manmohan Singh must be the last man to bother about that, as he is already hated as the architect of economic reforms.

Surely, the grand victory, which will need to be terribly grieved by the party in the coming weeks, was not his exclusive faux pas. He only executed orders of his predecessor Rajiv Gandhi’s widow Sonia, due to whose magnanimity he is PM. She happens to be heading the dynastic outfit.

To wipe out the muck he has invited upon himself by doing her bidding, Manmohan Singh will do well to now do the bidding of the ‘original’ Gandhi, Mohandas Karamchand, who is celebrated as the ‘father of the nation’.

 Numerous Indians believe that he brought independence to the country from the British, who actually had decided to quit anyway! What the congress patriarch did was to expedite transfer of power – to the Nehru dynasty from colonial masters! The family has even appropriated the Gandhi tag! While Sonia Gandhi is the chief of the party, her son is being projected as the future PM!

The ‘original’ Gandhi apparently predicted the turn of events, months before he was assassinated in 1948. He advocated dissolution of the party to prevent the occurrence of the sordid scene being witnessed today.

Prime Minister Singh can earn a place in history by fulfilling that wish now. In a way, it will be the best thing he will have done for the Sikh community also, which can hardly forgive the dynasty!