BJP's troubleshooter, 3-term RS member Piyush Goyal pads up for Lok Sabha innings
Piyush Goyal is all set to take the plunge in the rough and tumble of electoral politics as the BJP's candidate from Mumbai North in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. A three-term Rajya Sabha member, Goyal (59) has been in the thick of politics since his teenage years when he campaigned for his mother, late Chandrakanta Goyal, for the Maharashtra Assembly election.
Ved Prakash Goyal, Piyush Goyal's father, was an old-time RSS worker who worked closely with Sangh stalwarts Balasaheb Deoras, Atal Bihari Vajpayee and L K Advani. The Goyal home at Sion in central Mumbai was a beehive of political activity, with veteran leaders opting for it as a residence of choice when visiting the metropolis.
Piyush Goyal, known largely by his pet name «Happy», had the task of escorting leaders around Mumbai. The formal alliance of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Shiv Sena was also struck at the Goyal residence after a meeting between Sena supremo Balasaheb Thackeray and Vajpayee in 1984.
His go-getter approach was spotted by BJP leaders and Goyal played a key role in the election campaign of Advani, who first contested the Lok Sabha polls from the New Delhi constituency in 1989.
Even in the Narendra Modi government, Goyal's reputation as a man who gets things done has seen him negotiating issues ranging from international trade to equally challenging domestic matters, such as the recent farmers' agitation.
Election campaigning is not new for the Mumbai-born Goyal who, as a teenager, had canvassed for votes for his mother in
