Within half an hour of convening, both houses of parliament were adjourned this morning amid opposition protest. A whole week of the monsoon session washed out without Amit Shah coming, as demanded by the opposition, to explain the Delhi Police’s brutal crackdown at Jantar Mantar on July 20. It is anybody’s guess whether this is a political decision to not give an inch to the opposition – it would be understandable if the ruling coterie digs its heels in lest the opposition gets tempted to replicate the Dharmendra Pradhan example. Could it be that the home minister is developing cold feet, sensing the very perceptible change in the national mood? Or, are we witnessing the meltdown of a distinct political persona?Staying away from the parliamentary ring is against Amit Shah’s fitrat and reputation. According to long time observers, he is – unlike Narendra Modi – not known for displays of political cowardice. On his left sleeve, he wears a I-know-better-than-all-of-you swagger; and on his right, he wears the self-assurance of a mofussil mind. He thinks his admirers are not wrong in using the ‘Chanakya’ moniker for him. It is most unlike him not to react to the opposition’s charge that he is running away from facing them in parliament. On their part, the entire establishment on Raisina Hill is unable to fathom Amit Shah’s studied absence from the house. Since his anointment in 2019 as Union home minister, he has singularly impressed senior police officers and other overseers of ‘law and order’ and ‘national security’ with a ‘front-foot’ approach in the use of force and coercion against ‘the enemy’. It was as if Virender Sehwag had padded up for a triple century at North Block; no respect or fear of the bowler at the other end. Before anyone could say ‘successor’, Shah had consolidated his position as ‘No. 2’ in the ruling power pack, leaving seasoned colleagues like Rajnath Singh and Nitin Gadhkari stranded in political helplessness. All his interlocutors – the bureaucrats, intelligence operatives, DGPs, police commissioners and political editors, etc – came away in awe and admiration for his clear-headedness, brutal bluntness and unfazed preference for aggression, whatever the cause or the occasion. Use the knobkerrie, as the first option. He cast himself in the role of the nation’s thanedar and gave a new sense of empowerment to every SHO across the land. A Police Raj does not play on the back foot.The way the Delhi Police acted and reacted on July 20 had entirely to do with the confidence and backing that the force has received from the political leadership in its heavy-handed approach. Experienced ‘law and order’ hands have no hesitation in concluding that the police and RAF acted with impunity. Probably, the brass understood that their political leadership wanted the ‘cockroaches’ to be taught a lesson. Let there be blood on the footpaths. Because of this carte blanche from their political boss, the Delhi Police leadership failed to deploy its resources wisely and ignored prescribed, time-tested methods of crowd control. For all these acts of omission and commission, the buck stops at the home minister’s desk. The principle of accountability has already been conceded in Dharmendra Pradhan’s case.Sharp observers of the Jantar Mantar horror show have noted that whereas it was Amit Shah’s chosen instruments that caused the most egregious aggravation, the public anger and disapproval is directed entirely against Prime Minister Narendra Modi. It is the prime minister who is now being forced to learn a few new tricks, such as how to communicate with the new generation of Indians; but the home minister is busy serenading another ancient, Ajit Doval, with a Tilak award.Home minister Amit Shah conferring the ‘Lokmanya Tilak National Award 2026’ to NSA Ajit Doval in Pune, on August 1. Also in frame, to the right of Amit Shah, Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and deputy chief minister Eknath Shinde. Photo: X/@AmitShahThere is more bad news for Amit Shah – this time from his own saffron corner. Of all people, Mohan Bhagwat, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh boss, has publicly distanced himself from the tone and the tactics deployed by Shah’s security forces against the Gen-Z protesters at Jantar Mantar. Whether it is old-fashioned cunning so ingrained in the Nagpur clique or a new realisation that the Modi regime has deeply annoyed the RSS core constituency, Bhagwat’s formulations have brought cheers to Shah’s detractors in the BJP. The Sangh knows that those who gathered – and abused the PM and his government – at Jantar Mantar were predominantly Hindu. As it is, there is already considerable disquiet over No. 2’s overweening arrogance in dealing with the BJP leaders and much-fabled karyakarta.It cannot be a matter of any comfort to Amit Shah that in this matter of handling, or mis-handling, the Jantar Mantar gathering, both Bhagwat and his most vociferous and unrelenting critic, Rahul Gandhi, seem to be on the same page. Amit Shah appears to be in the crosshairs of both gentlemen. Will a point come when the prime minister realises the need to have on hand a sacrificial lamb in order to appease both Bhagwat and the Leader of the Opposition?Even if the home minister is able to retain his job, he stands politically crippled. His reputation as ‘Sardar Patel, the Third’ stands shredded. One week of absence from parliament has translated itself into an inability to face a determined opposition. A carefully built persona of over-confidence and over-cleverness has begin to melt. History does not take kindly to those who are over-smart or too cold-blooded. Those who used to stand in awe of Shah have seen through him. The aura is gone. A month ago, Amit Shah’s cheerleaders were whispering that his elevation as deputy prime minister was a work in progress. The tide has receded. His indispensability to the prime minister no longer seems cast in stone. Now, instead, a political meltdown appears to be around the corner.