Piyush Goyal says his relationship with UP has been 'very close'

Lucknow, Dec 14 (PTI) Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Sunday said that he has a "very close relationship" with Uttar Pradesh.

He was addressing the party workers and leaders at a gathering in Lucknow, after announcing the name of Union Minister Pankaj Chaudhary as the new president of Uttar Pradesh BJP.

Recalling the party's victory in the 2017 assembly elections in the state, he said, "When the then BJP chief, Amit Shah, informed Yogi Adityanath that you have to go to Lucknow, take the command of UP... This took place at my residence in New Delhi." Adityanath was then a Lok Sabha MP and was named the chief minister after the party won the Uttar Pradesh assembly polls.

"Perhaps, my relationship with UP has been very close," Goyal said.

He also termed Lucknow the "karmabhoomi" of former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

Goyal said that Lucknow is not only a city; it is the capital city of a special state, which "the entire country looks up to".

"For any government which is formed at the Centre, Uttar Pradesh makes the maximum contribution (with the highest number of MPs)," he said. PTI NAV PRK PRK