Union minister Piyush Goyal, who is the BJP candidate for the Mumbai North seat, filed his nomination at the Mumbai (suburban) district collector’s office Tuesday afternoon. Goyal sounded confident about not just his victory but also BJP winning at all the 48 seats in Maharashtra. “Whether the Opposition declares any candidate or not, it makes no difference anymore. It is not just my constituency that we are winning. There is an easy contest for BJP in all the seats in Maharashtra and there will be a clean sweep. We will work towards the transformation of Mumbai, so that Uttar Mumbai can be transformed into Uttam Mumbai in the coming days," Goyal told reporters on Tuesday morning. Goyal first visited the Borivali Ganpati temple and then in a show of strength held a massive rally before reaching the collector’s office around 1 pm. During his nomination, he was accompanied by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, Union minister and Republican Party of India president Ramdas Athawale, Mumbai BJP president Ashish Shelar and sitting BJP MP from Mumbai North Gopal Shetty. As of now, Goyal's is the only nomination from the Mumbai North seat, which is considered a bastion of BJP. The last day for filing nominations is May 3. The Union minister, who has been an MP in the Rajya Sabha since 2010, will be contesting a Lok Sabha election for the first time and political observers feel that it will be a cakewalk for Goyal as Mumbai North is a BJP bastion and has significant presence of Gujarati and Marwadi population. BJP’s candidate in 2019 Gopal Shetty had won the seat with a huge margin of over 4.65 lakh votes. During his rally on Tuesday, Goyal was accompanied by members from the local Koli community, many of whom were dressed in the traditional Maharashtrian attire wearing Nauvari saree. “During my course of campaigning, I had developed a bond with the members from the Koli community and I believe they will bless me by electing me as their representative,” Goyal said. He started his rally from his new Kandivali residence, where he has been staying since the announcement of his candidature last month, following which he held a roadshow and went to the Borivali Ganpati temple to seek blessings. From there, he headed towards the collector's office. Even as his rival candidate is yet to be announced by the opposition alliance, Goyal has been campaigning extensively over the last one month and has already completed his first phase of campaigning that includes interactions with voters across the entire Mumbai North (Dahisar to Malad). Sources say that he is now gearing up for the second phase of campaigning. Earlier on Sunday, Goyal did a huge roadshow from Borivali to Kandivali which witnessed a big response and workers and citizens participated in large numbers. The participation also came from alliance partners — Shiv Sena, NCP (Ajit Pawar), MNS and Republican Party of India. During his rally, Goyal had challenged Rahul Gandhi to come and contest against him from Mumbai North constituency. “I challenge Rahul Gandhi to contest the election from the Mumbai North seat. He is already losing from Wayanad from where he has filed his candidature,” Goyal had said. “He (Rahul Gandhi) should consider contesting from 4-5 seats, if by any chance he manages to win one seat. If he has the guts, he should contest from Amethi or Varanasi,” Goyal added. During his campaigns till now, Goyal has engaged directly with citizens, gathering their feedback. He has also met with traders, businessmen, and entrepreneurs, discussing government policies, new opportunities, and plans for various sectors. Goyal has engaged in discussions with various social organizations and groups, including the Kutch Youth Association and the Bengali community.
