Dr Manmohan Singh, our venerable prime minister is, allegedly, a changedperson. The soft-spoken, self-effacing, media-shy economist-cum-civilservant-cum politician has been, we are told, transformed into an"aggressive", "combative", "no-holds-barred", "rude" netaready to take up any challenge or invective thrown at him. The TV channels spentconsiderable time debating and analysing the "new" Manmohan Singh. The manwho had provoked the prime minister into verbal belligerence was L K Advani.