Everybody knows how Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy fumbles while speaking in Telugu at the public meetings; and many a times, he does not even know his faux pas in the language with which he is not comfortable.

On Monday, Kiran was addressing a meeting at the inauguration of a food park at Bangarupalyam in Chittoor district, where he indirectly lashed out at the Reliance Industries Limited for denying sufficient gas to the state though it had explored huge gas reserves in the Krishna-Godavari basin off the Andhra coast. He said it was this company which was responsible for the power crisis in the state. “Aa gas manaku vasthe, rasthramlo okka nimusham kooda power lekundaa choosthaa..” (If we get the gas, I will see that there is no power supply even for a minute), he said amidst laughter from the audience.

Kiran thought the crowds were cheering him for his bold statement, but little did he realize that they were laughing at his Telugu. Instead of saying “power cuts lekunda choostha,” (I will see that there are no power cuts), he said “Power lekunda choostha..” (there is no power supply)!

Interestingly, even before the Chief Minister completed his sentence, there was a power cut in the area and his mike went off. He could not continue his speech further!