Amit Shah hard at work but missing from Lok Sabha: what is he cooking?

If Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju is to be believed, Union Home Minister Amit Shah has been hard at work. While the Opposition has sustained its demand that the Home Minister appear in Parliament and issue a statement on the police crackdown on protesters at Jantar Mantar on July 20 and later, Shah has set a record of sorts by not appearing in either House of Parliament for the past two weeks.

Neither slogans nor posters carrying his photograph and stating in large letters that he is 'Missing' have moved him to make an appearance.

"He is like a ghost. We are told that he is there but he is never to be seen," newly sworn-in Rajya Sabha MP Pawan Khera jeered.

An incensed Parliamentary Affairs Minister, however, declared that the Opposition could not demand or dictate which minister would appear in the House and when. Chiding the Opposition, he asserted that all they were doing was shouting slogans and going back home. The Home Minister, however, stayed back in his office in Parliament, working till late at night.

"There has been no direction issued for any minister to come to the House. You all raise slogans and immediately leave the Parliament, whereas the Home Minister stays there from morning until late at night; yet, when he rises to reply, you will not be able to listen. You people lack the guts; you only engage in sloganeering and disrupt business," he added.

On Thursday, Rajya Sabha Chairman C P Radhakrishnan had urged Rijiju to convey the sentiment of the Opposition to the Home Minister. It did not work, and Shah pointedly ignored the Chairman's nudge.

When Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge lamented that the government was not paying heed even to the Rajya Sabha Chairman, Rijiju was once again on his feet.

"There has been no direction by the Chair. I am saying this on the record: The minister responsible for the business before the House gives the reply. The Opposition will not decide which minister is to come and when," the minister asserted.

So, will Shah make an appearance on Monday, August 10?

Speculation is rife because, according to the agreed schedule, the Monsoon Session is set to end on Thursday, August 13. While observers believe that Shah will make an appearance next week in either House to avoid setting the dubious precedent of missing the entire Monsoon Session, there is mounting anticipation that the Home Minister could pilot the FCRA Bill or even a modified Delimitation Bill if he manages to secure the support of the DMK and some other Opposition parties.

The Home Minister is known to be combative and is not one to shy away from a confrontation. BJP MPs believe the minister has been sharpening his knives all this while and is preparing something 'very big'.

Their anticipation is that Shah will make an announcement, introduce a Bill or lay a white paper in the House to change the narrative and catch the Opposition off balance.

They recall Shah making the sudden announcement in August 2019 that Jammu and Kashmir would be reduced to a Union Territory, and introducing the religion-based Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), which caught everyone by surprise.

Something equally big or bigger is being prepared, say BJP leaders with ill-concealed glee.

It is doubtful if Parliament will function next week, however, unless Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Shah turn up. The Opposition has stuck to its demands that the Prime Minister apologise over paper leaks and alleged police brutality, while the Home Minister should make a statement.

"We are asking about the CRPF, the RAF, and the police and the high-handedness they have displayed.... If you wanted to address the issue and for the students to withdraw their agitation, you could have at least made an appeal...you could have come to the House and said, 'Please do not stage this protest; we will find a solution to this somehow.' But that was not done."