Bengaluru, Mar 7 (PTI) Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Friday expressed his gratitude to the people of Karnataka for giving him an opportunity for the sixteenth time to present the budget.

He said he believed in the aspirations of Lord Buddha, 12th century AD social reformer Basaveshwara and Mahatma Gandhi and made efforts to take a step towards realising an equal society.

In a post on 'X', the chief minister said, "Today, I am ready to present the 16th budget of my political career. I am grateful to all the people of Karnataka for giving me the opportunity to present the budget of this state sixteen times." "Believing in the aspirations of Buddha, Basava, Gandhi and Ambedkar, and acting accordingly, we have made an effort to take a further step towards realising the dream of an equal society through this budget," he added.

Siddaramaiah said there is no doubt that this budget will be a beacon for the comprehensive development of the state for the next one year. PTI GMS GMS KH

State budget aims to advance social equality and guide comprehensive development, presented with gratitude to the electorate. The Chief Minister announced presentation of the state budget, thanking the electorate for enabling a sixteenth presentation and framing the budget as an instrument to advance policy priorities. He invoked social reformers to situate fiscal choices within an objective of promoting social equality and described the budget as a guiding framework for the state's comprehensive development over the coming year.