Chorus on Goyal’s debut campaign: ‘Mumbai upgrade, voice in Delhi’

city well. It will be easier for him to chalk out policies that will help us,”saidbharatgupta,alocalresident and businessman.

“Things have improved a lot but there is still much left to be done to ensure that locals from North Mumbai, who travel long distances to reach uptown, are provided better comfort. During peak hours, travelling in local trains is a challenge. The only solution is to increase the frequency of trains and add more bogies. We are hopeful that Goyal will find a solution,” said Rupesh Singh, another local resident.

After a brief interaction with residents, Goyal took part in a Ram Navami rally, walking for a kilometre with the procession, before visiting the Babhai Naka Ram Mandir in Borivali West. “Election candidates usually visit this temple on Ram Navami as a gesture of goodwill,” said Shailesh Chogle, a trustee of the temple.

According to Chogle, this templedatesbackto1878andrecords massive footfall on Ram Navami everyyear.itislocatedintheheart of a densely populated neighbourhood dominated by the Kshatriya Pathare community as well as members of Gujarati and Marathi communities.

On Wednesday, Goyal's visit took many of the elderly devotees by surprise. With folded hands and sporting religious headwear, Goyal touched the feet of a few of those devotees and interacted with them. This time, he was accompanied by Shetty, the previous BJP candidate, who introduced him to local community leaders, before the two of them walkedtowardsthetemple’shallway to perform the evening puja.

Outside the temple, voters said that if Goyal becomes a Lok Sabha MP from their constituency, the suburban belt of Mumbai will record a surge in infrastructure growth. “In 1999, Ram Naik became a Union Minister after getting elected from this constituency and he did a lot of work for North Mumbai. Voters know that if we elect a heavyweight candidate, they will reap the benefit,” said Ram Shankar Patel, a local voter.

With the constituency slated to vote on May 20, a local BJP leader said, “Yesterday (April 16), the Union Minister held meetings with party workers till midnight. He is attending 5-6 meetings and gatherings every day.”

For BJP supporters, Shetty's presence at Goyal's campaign is crucial. “During the last ten years, Shetty freed government land from encroachments and transformed them into gardens and recreational zones, which was very beneficial for senior citizens and children,” said Santosh Seth, a local resident and a devotee at the temple.

Following the 'aarti', Goyal joined a procession of devotees and volunteered to carry the “Ram Palki” on his shoulders for a while, distributing sweets on the way. Later, the Union Minister headed to Dahisar for his last campaign stop for the day — another Ram Navami procession.