Defence minister Rajnath Singh on Friday chaired the first meeting of the “revised” cabinet committee on parliamentary affairs at his official residence, with home minister Amit Shah driving to the 17 Akbar Road bungalow to participate.

The meeting and its venue — the panel usually meets in Parliament House — appeared a further act of self-assertion by Rajnath a day after he had forced the government to hurriedly induct him into several cabinet committees from which he had been omitted.

One of these was the committee on parliamentary affairs, where Rajnath was not just included in the late-night revision but appointed chairman, replacing Shah. (Prime Minister Narendra Modi is not part of this committee or the one on accommodation.)

An official denied that Friday’s meeting reflected an attempt by Rajnath to stress his importance after Thursday’s initial developments seemed to question his status as the technical Number Two in the government.

“It was just an informal meeting to take stock of the government’s business as the first session of the 17th Lok Sabha starts from June 17. Nothing significant about this meeting,” the official said.

However, this very informality — reflected in the absence of four of the committee’s seven members and all the relevant bureaucrats — lent credence to the view that it had been held merely to underline Rajnath’s clout.

Rajnath’s omission from six of the eight cabinet committees on Thursday had been viewed as a bid to sideline him and portray Shah — his successor as home minister — as the de facto Number Two. Rajnath had been kept out of even the crucial committee on political affairs, considered the “core committee” of the government.

Sources said the snub prompted Rajnath to politely offer to step down and work for the party organisation, forcing the leadership to include him in four more committees, including the one on political affairs.

Rajnath, 67, is seen in BJP circles as a cautious and mild-mannered politician who rarely loses his cool. He is considered an “old school leader” who refrains from beating his own drum but plays his cards quietly and deftly.

“He, however, takes a very firm stand when he feels his self-respect is at stake. He then listens to nobody,” a BJP insider close to him said.

He recalled a similar incident from the initial months of the first Modi government when Arun Jaitley, then holding the heavyweight ministries of finance and defence, was being seen as the de facto Number Two.

“Jaitleyji was trying to appear like what Amitbhai now is. A section of the media was projecting him as the Number Two,” the insider said.

Rajnath, then home minister, is believed to have asserted himself and compelled Modi to make his status as second-in-command official. The announcement came in the form of an order by then cabinet secretary Ajit Seth when Modi went on a weeklong visit to the US in September 2014.

“The Prime Minister has directed that during the period of his absence on foreign tour from 25th September to 1st October, 2014, urgent business may be put up before the Union home minister for disposal,” Seth’s order said.

Another instance of Rajnath’s feistiness in defending his honour had come a few weeks before this, when some media reports said his son Pankaj had received a rap from Modi for certain malpractices.

Rajnath, who felt some people in the party and the government were trying to tarnish his image, spoke to the RSS leadership and protested to Modi.

“If any allegation, even the smallest one, is proved against either me or my family members, I will give up politics and public life and sit at home,” Rajnath said in a statement.

Modi was forced to publicly deny the reports and the charges against Pankaj.

On Friday, Nirmala Sitharaman, Thaawar Chand Gehlot, Prakash Javadekar and Ram Vilas Palawan skipped the meeting at Rajnath’s bungalow. Two ministers who were not part of the committee --- Dharmendra Pradhan and Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi --- were present, though.

Sources said the meeting discussed candidates for pro-tem Speaker and the Shiv Sena’s demand for the deputy Speaker’s post.