Did Nirmala Sitharaman's second Budget just deprioritise the economy?

At a time like this, it becomes obligatory on the PM to bring a sense of purpose and stability to the whole polity of which the economy is the largest part

There are two ways in which the Budget presented on Saturday can be interpreted, broadly speaking. The first is that it is a cautious and conservative exercise. This is sensible. Those opposed to the government picked out what seem to be its weaknesses, particularly lack of clarity on the numbers. However, the consensus is that it was not particularly damaging and not particularly ambitious.

This is not necessarily a bad thing and might not be seen askance in an ordinary year. But 2019-20 was not an ordinary year. It was the worst we have had in the last decade in terms