A Congress supporter outside 10 Janpath on Wednesday. (Prem Singh)

New Delhi, July 23: From V-sign to warm hug, the Prime Minister’s body language is changing by the day.

When the Congress congregation lined up with flowers for Manmohan Singh today — in itself an unusual occurrence — the Prime Minister reciprocated with a jappi, a true-blue Punjabi hug.

Manmohan, the self-styled “accidental politician”, is usually not given to gestures that can be construed a politician’s stock-in-trade. However, since the debate on the trust motion had begun in the Lok Sabha, Manmohan has been religiously flashing the V-sign and the thumbs-up.

The mood spilled over to the lawns of 10 Janpath, too, most of it through the “backdoor”.

Manmohan’s council of ministers, UPA allies and Congress Working Committee members had to use a back gate to meet Sonia Gandhi at her residence because of the crush of triumphant supporters in front of the main gate.

Akbar Road outside Sonia’s residence was jampacked with thousands of party workers bursting fire crackers, distributing sweets and waving party flags as they celebrated the government’s trust vote victory.

For fear of getting mobbed, the ministers and AICC functionaries entered 10 Janpath through the Maulana Azad Road-Vigyan Bhavan crossing.

Group photographs followed. First, the ministers lined up with Sonia and Manmohan. Then, the CWC and AICC functionaries and finally the alliance partners got together for a picture perfect.

A closer look revealed more. For the first time in many years, there was genuine and evident admiration for the once-reluctant Prime Minister, whose jappi helped break the ice.

In whispers, Congress leaders were heard marvelling Manmohan’s nerves, his sense of conviction and humility.

Almost all visitors carried fresh flowers. Florists at Khan Market and Shahjahan Road had almost run out of bouquets by early afternoon. By 4pm, many desperate buyers chose to pick anything that was available to them such as tulips, sunflowers and mixed roses.

Suresh, who works at Kamal Florist at Khan Market, said: “We had such a brisk sale that by early afternoon, 50 bouquets were sold. Normally, such a figure is not reached even at late evenings when the wedding season is on.”

Host Sonia chose to individually meet all CWC members, general secretaries and office-bearers.

Outside, hundreds broke into an impromptu jig to the beat of drums, and many more were seen distributing sweets, unmindful of the humid weather. A supporter held a balloon in the shape of an atom bomb with the slogan: “The nuclear deal is important for our energy.”