Lucknow, May 7: Gopalkrishna Gandhi is not alone in feeling the “power pain” of the people.

But if the Bengal governor is protesting against power cuts by switching off lights in Raj Bhavan for two hours everyday, Kanpur MP Sriprakash Jaiswal decided to make a song and dance about it.

Jaiswal, also the Union minister of state for home, marched to the residence of the Kanpur Electric Supply Corporation managing director, around 200 residents in tow, at 11.55 last night.

When the clock struck 12, they began chanting hymns and singing parodies of Hindi songs to drumbeats.

So Adnan Sami’s Lift Kara De became: “Meri arji maanle MD/ Tu hai sab kuchh jaanle MD/ thodi si bijli dila de/ Factory dukan ko jaan dila de/ Kanpur ko sukh dila de/ Thodi si to lift kara de (Please listen our pleas MD/ You are everything/ Give us a little electricity/ Bring factories and shops back to life/ Give Kanpur some happiness/ Give it a lift).”

“The MD’s house was well-lit while the entire city was plunged in darkness. How can an MD snore when people are having nightmares because of lack of power?” Dinesh Das, a local Congress leader, asked.

The protesters, including the minister, sat outside the MD’s house for almost half an hour, making sure he had a sleepless night.

The prolonged power cuts coupled with soaring temperatures have brought tempers across Uttar Pradesh to boiling point.

In Sonebhadra, residents raided an electricity office around 2 this afternoon. They switched off generators and air-conditioners, forcing the executive engineer and other officials to come out and sit under the sun. Police rescued the officials and shooed the protesters away.

There was no power in Allahabad for as long as 18 hours at a stretch since yesterday, driving residents out of their homes. They staged a roadblock on a national highway this morning.

Bijnore residents left the police red-faced. Dressed in only underwear, they dared the police to open fire.

In Budaun in central Uttar Pradesh, three persons were arrested for beating up power employees.

The state is grappling with one of the worst power crises ever. While the smaller cities have to make do with less than 10 hours of electricity a day, the villages don’t get power for even eight hours.

Power officials plead helplessness, saying the state needs almost 6,500mw electricity in summer, but it can generate only 5,400mw. “We are ready to buy power for as high as Rs 8.50 a unit from the central grid, but it is not available as every state is facing almost the same plight,” Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation Limited managing director Avinash Awasthi said.