Calcutta, June 10: Power cuts chased CPM leaders as the rest of the city breathed easy with the rain bringing the demand for electricity down.

Lights went out and mikes went mute as CPM state secretary Biman Bose began expressing his “solidarity with Palestinians” and introducing the guest speaker at a party programme, Israel communist party member Issam Makhoul.

At the Calcutta University Centenary Hall, some CPM leaders used their cellphones for emergency light this evening.

“It is a real embarrassment in front of the guest.... I express my regret to comrade Makhoul,” Bose said as the supply resumed for 15 minutes later.

It was evident that he could not stomach the embarrassment as he again mentioned it while speaking on “US-Israeli conspiracies against Palestinians and other Arabs”. “I don’t know if the power cut was also a conspiracy,” he said, in jest.

CESC sources said it was not load shedding but a “local fault”. The demand for power in the peak hours has dipped 100MW with the arrival of the monsoon, they added.

When the heat was at its height and the city was reeling under power cuts, governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi had rubbed salt on the government’s wound by deciding to switch off power at Raj Bhavan for two hours every day.

Although the situation is slightly better now, the voluntary power cut continues.

Makhoul tried to cheer up his embarrassed host. “There is an Arab saying — your own light is sufficient,’’ he said.

A “minority Palestinian citizen of Israel”, he added: “Terrorism can’t be fought with alliance with the US and Israel, for they are its instigators.”