Manmohan Singh’s house in Guwahati. Picture by Biju Boro

Guwahati, May 18: House number 3989, Nandan Nagar, ward number 51, Sarumataria, Dispur, Guwahati, Assam — 781006. The address does not ring a bell in Assam, let alone the national capital. But this is not just another house in the quiet locality — but the permanent address of Manmohan Singh — tipped to be the next Prime Minister.

The house, incidentally, belongs to Assam minister Hemoprova Saikia, whose husband and former chief minister, the late Hiteswar Saikia, had persuaded Manmohan Singh to seek election to the Upper House from Assam.

However, in stark contrast to the hysterical scenes in front of 10 Janpath, the two-storey house at Nandan Nagar was calm today. Except for the occasional visits by photojournalists and cameramen from different TV channels — capturing the house of the man of the moment — there was no activity here.

But those who know Singh here said the man himself was dignity personified, calm and unruffled by the biggest storm around him.

Except for a few guards for Hemoprova Saikia, there was no VIP security in sight. A guard said Singh’s security personnel are deployed only when he is here.

The road leading to Singh’s house is not exactly the silken-smooth asphalt over which he zips around in Delhi. But local residents said the road condition has improved a “great deal” over the past few years.

Born in nondescript Gah, a village now in Pakistan, the soft-spoken economist-turned-politician’s association with Assam began when the then chief minister Hiteswar Saikia persuaded him to contest the Rajya Sabha elections from the state after he was made finance minister by P.V. Narasimha Rao. Singh was elected for the first time to the Rajya Sabha in 1991 from Assam and re-elected from the state in June 1995.

Pradesh Congress leaders, however, are guarded in their reactions in public. “Given our close association with him, it will definitely be a big boost for the party as well as the state,” a Congress leader said.

Officially, the PCC today faxed a message to party president Sonia Gandhi urging her to reconsider her decision. “We have urged her not to bow before the wishes of communal forces,” party general secretary Haren Das said.

Another senior Congress leader Bhagaban Lahkar was more candid, “Sonia Gandhi is our unquestionable leader and she is our obvious choice for Prime Minister. But if she opts out and Manmohan Singh becomes Prime Minister, we will definitely welcome him. After all, he will understand the problem of the state better than any other national leader,” he said.