KAR ACHI: It was a single-minute power failure that played an opposition`s role when Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah was reading out the budget speech: the entire house of more than 150 members 25 of them on the opposition benches remained at peace hurling no accusation at the government as they traditionally do.

When the Sindh Assembly session began 45 minutes behind schedule with the national anthem, scores of people behind the cameras and reporters were expecting something dramatic as they had witnessed inpast budget sessions.

But scenes of tearing of budget documents, loud accusations and counter-accusations and violent thumping of microphones and desks did not happen. Everything was quiet when Mr Shah began his speech and remained so till it ended afterthree hours.

Exchanges of pleasant remarks and faint laughter were intermittently witnessed. Speaker Siraj Durrani, who, in his attempt to make the increasingly boring proceedings lively, repeatedly inquired about what allocations had been made for his constituency, Shikarpur district, and funnily complained if in some province-wide schemes his town had been left out.Mr Shah was sharing the salient features of the budget for the coming fiscal and, quite ironically, when he was about to move to the energy-related schemes after explaining the health programme, power supply went out.

The incident caused some incoherent shouts of `shame` coming from unidentified benches, which, at first were slammed the power supply utility and then even did not spare the federal government of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

People sitting dutifully in the Governor`s Gallery promptly took out some emergency lights.

However, before that photographers sitting in the press gallery found a perfect moment to clicktheir blinding flashguns.

For a man in his mid-eighties, Mr Shah, the single minute was the only opportunity to stretch himself in his seat.

Earlier, the chair asked Shahryar Mahar of the Muslim LeagueFunctional to take the seat of the opposition leader. The seat had been vacant since the Muttahida Qaumi Movement joined the Sindh government two months ago.

Besides, the house prayed for the people who lost their lives in militant attacks on Karachi airport and on pilgrims in Balochistan`s Taftan town and for Baloch leader Khair Bakhsh Marri. They also prayed for MQM leader Altaf Hussain`s health.