Mumbai Calling: Piyush Goyal to Seek First-Time Voter Support After 35 Years in Politics

Although Piyush Goyal is well-known in the political and governing circles, he will be put to the test in the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections as the BJP has included his name on the second list of candidates, which was made public on Wednesday.

Goyal has overseen many important ministries over the last ten years and is regarded as one of the top ministers in the Narendra Modi administration. Among other portfolios, he has managed coal, railroads, and electricity. He is now the Union Minister of Textiles, Food and Public Distribution, Consumer Affairs, and Commerce and Industry. In the Rajya Sabha, he holds the position of Leader of the House.

The BJP’s decision to grant the seasoned politician a third term in the Rajya Sabha was already unusual, but now Goyal has been nominated to run in his first Lok Sabha poll. Goyal, a native of Mumbai, will return to his home state to run in the general elections from the Mumbai North seat, taking the place of another veteran, Gopal Shetty.

This 59-year-old is naturally gifted in politics; his late father, Vedprakash Goyal, served as the BJP’s national treasurer and Union Minister of Shipping for more than 20 years. Three times, his mother, Chandrakanta Goyal, was chosen to represent Mumbai in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly. The party’s treasurer has been none other than Piyush Goyal.

“I would like to express my sincere appreciation to Shri @CBawankule ji, the President of the BJP State, and Shri @ShelarAshish ji, the President of Mumbai, for their unwavering trust in me and for selecting me as the Lok Sabha candidate from Mumbai North on behalf of the biggest political party in the world, the BJP. Shortly after his name appeared on the BJP’s second list, Goyal tweeted, “I received blessings from my friend & colleague, Shri @iGopalShetty ji, who assured me of his continuous support for the development & upliftment of North Mumbai.”

Goyal is now in charge of the group that is bargaining with farmers who are staging protests at the border with Delhi. He was also a member of the previous team that, after months of back-and-forth between the Union government and farmer unions, successfully assisted in driving farmers off the Delhi boundaries.

Goyal has shown effectiveness as a floor manager as a senior member of parliament, particularly during the passage of significant laws like the Article 370 legislation and the triple talaq legislation. He gets along well with opposition leaders as well as residents of his own state, Maharashtra. In every election since 2004, Goyal has been a pivotal figure within his party.

at 2022–2023 India had its highest-ever exports of around $776 billion during his time at the Commerce Ministry. He oversaw the signing of the India-Australia Economic Cooperation and Trade pact (ECTA), New Delhi’s first pact with a developed nation in a decade, as well as the Free Trade Agreement with the United Arab Emirates, the fastest-ever negotiated FTA in history. In order to further the Made in India movement, he also supervised the introduction of production-linked incentive (PLI) programs.

Goyal oversaw the implementation of the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY), the largest food security program in the world, which provided free food grains to nearly 80 crore impoverished and vulnerable people over the course of two years. This was one of the major flagship initiatives of the Modi administration.

He assisted India in setting a new safety record of zero passenger fatalities in train accidents while serving as the train minister. In his capacity as Minister of Power, Coal, and New and Renewable Energy, he successfully carried out the biggest LED bulb distribution program in the world (UJALA).

Just before the Lok Sabha elections in 2019, Piyush Goyal, the country’s finance minister for a brief period of time due to Arun Jaitley’s illness, unveiled one of the greatest budgets of the Narendra Modi administration. In addition, he has the distinction of being the first chartered accountant to have served as finance minister and delivered the Union Budget.

Goyal is returning to his roots as a politician, running for office in his native Mumbai after 35 years in the field.