Amid sharp criticism over his elevation as Home Minister on a day the nation faced its worst electricity blackout, the outgoing Power Minister Sushilkumar Shinde today said people should appreciate that electricity supply was restored within hours. "We got electricity in a matter of hours... people should appreciate how work is done at the grid," Shinde told reporters at his residence here.

Dalits usually never get home ministry. Rajiv Gandhi was the first to give the ministry to a Dalit when he made Buta Singh the Home Minister and now the second time it has happened under Sonia Gandhi when Manmohan Singh has given the ministry to me, he said.

He also thanked Sonia Gandhi and the PM for making him, a Dalit, the home minister. Hitting out at the media for blaming him, he said he was a minister and not a technician and was not supposed to know how these things happened.