Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Friday was forced to present the state Budget proposals for 2016-17 using a mobile phone torch.

The situation presented a grim picture of power situation of the Congress-ruled state. As Siddaramaiah was presenting the Budget, the power snapped twice in the Assembly causing severe embarrassment to the ruling party, which has given scant importance to improvement of public infrastructure.

The CM was heard murmuring "what's happening here?" and his aides helped him to continue the speech by turning on the torch of a mobile phone. The CM remained unfazed and read out the remaining part of the Budget proposals. Karnataka is facing one of the worst power and water supply crises in the last two decades and the government has done little to improve the situation.

Meanwhile, the Budget brought out disturbing facts with regard to the growth of the economy. The CM attributed the negative growth to the decline in the growth of agricultural sector last year, during which a record number of farmers ( over 1,000) committed suicide.

In a major relief, Siddaramaiah announced the government's plans to disburse Rs 11,000 crore as agricultural loan to over 2.3 million farmers during the next fiscal.

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