Duty-bound?

The twin blasts at Hyderabad saw an emotional Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) senior leader Venkaiah Naidu (who hails from Andhra Pradesh) sparring with a beleaguered Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde in the Rajya Sabha. When Shinde made it to the Upper House after lunch, Naidu outrightly accused Shinde of treating the House in a “casual manner” and not being present in the morning at 11 a.m. to hear the members’ concern on the blasts. Trying his best to justify, the home minister informed, “The whole night... I have not slept... I respect the House... You should appreciate that I left at 4 o’clock in the morning; I was there on the spot at 7 o’clock,” said Shinde. However, Naidu was left sorely unimpressed with his explanation and replied in a sardonic manner, “You have not done any favour to us. You have to do your basic duty.” Looks like Shinde’s pleas of having performed to the best of his ability will cut no ice with the Opposition, and certainly not with Naidu.