Piyush Goyal, the BJP trouble-shooter returns as Union Minister

Mumbai: Piyush Goyal is one of the rare breeds of leaders who have seen the BJP grow from the day it was formed.

He is also witness to BJP's alliances - as the alliance with Shiv Sena was sealed at his Mumbai home between the then BJP President late Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who later became Prime Minister and late Shiv Sena supremo Balasaheb Thackeray. Thus, he has witnessed the BJP’s formation of alliances - first with the Shiv Sena and then the NDA.

Goyal was sworn-in as a cabinet minister for the third time in the Modi government on Sunday, after becoming a Lok Sabha member for the first time.

Goyal, a Chartered Accountant by training, who also holds a Law degree is one of the key confidantes and trouble-shooters of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his aide and Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

Goyal (59), who was Union Commerce and Industries Minister in the previous government, won the prestigious Lok Sabha seat of Mumbai North - the only seat that BJP won from Mumbai.

"The third term of Modi as Prime Minister will witness amazing all-round development," Goyal has told DH in the run up to the polls.

His father, late Ved Prakash Goyal, was a Rajya Sabha served and had been Shipping Minister and one of the longest-serving treasurers of the party, while his mother late Chandrakanta Goyal was a three-time MLA from Matunga.

Being a part of India’s growth story under Modi’s command, he is sure to get something big if the PM gets a third term in office - and take the Amrit Kaal story ahead.

A two-term Rajya Sabha member, Goyal started his career as an investment banker and served on the board of India's largest commercial banks - State Bank of India from 2001–2004 and Bank of Baroda 2002–2004 as Government nominee. Goyal was a member of the Standing Committee on Finance and the Consultative Committee for the Ministry of Defence.

In the first Modi government, Goyal became the Minister of State for Power, Coal, New and Renewable Energy and also handled the Railway portfolio. In the second Modi government, he held the Commerce and Industry portfolio.