Bhopal, Apr 21 (PTI) In an embarrassment for the BJP government in Madhya Pradesh, a power outage affected Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan"s speech during an event here on Thursday, prompting him to admit that there was "coal crisis" in the state, while the opposition Congress took a dig at the ruling dispensation over the issue. The incident took place in the state capital during a function organised in the afternoon on the occasion of Civil Services Day. As the power cut occurred in the middle of his speech, Chouhan said, "Is Sanjay Dubey, principal secretary of energy department, around?" His comment triggered laughter among the audience. The chief minister then tapped the microphone to check whether it was working or not and then said, "There is a coal crisis." "I had held talks with Sanjay (Dubey) on Wednesday morning and he requested me for some rakes of coal," Chouhan said. The chief minister continued his speech despite the power outage for five minutes, before the electricity supply resumed. Taking a dig at the BJP government, state Congress spokesman Narendra Saluja said in a tweet, "There was a power outage for a long time while Mamaji (CM) was addressing a Civil Services Day function at Academy of Administration." "Mamaji also talked about the coal problem. Power crisis has manifested in MP," he added. Two days ago, All-India Power Engineers Federation (AIPEF) said that thermal plants across the country were grappling with coal shortages, indicating a looming power crisis in the country. "Thermal plants across the country are grappling with coal shortage as the power demand in states has increased, and many of them are not able to bridge the gap between demand and supply because of insufficient coal stocks at thermal plants," AIPEF spokesperson V K Gupta had said in a statement. The Union Power Ministry has recommended the import of coal for blending up to 10 per cent to ensure adequate stock when the power demand is at its peak in the next few months. PTI LAL NP NP