FM Sitharaman's Budget speech: A perfect start to an imperfect end

It was mostly well-wishers from the Opposition and the NDA that kept the finance minister cocooned with good wishes until it was time to leave

It started brilliantly. No fumble and a quick namaskar to her uncle in the gallery to seek his blessings as Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, her voice ringing out strong and true, announced she was tabling the Finance Bill 2020, aka the 2020-21 Budget. Nary a tremble to be seen.

Everyone, and four other members of her family in the visitors’ gallery, including her daughter Vangamayee, hunkered down into their seats and held their breath for the second-most-awaited speech of the year (the first being the PM’s Independence Day address from Red Fort). It was around 11.03 am.

By 12.39 pm, Hema Malini,