Bluffmaster

Until he went to Kashmir for his honeymoon some 20 years ago, BJP?s Vijay Goel could not figure out why people got themselves photographed in a Kashmiri costume.

Until he went to Kashmir for his honeymoon some 20 years ago, BJP’s Vijay Goel could not figure out why people got themselves photographed in a Kashmiri costume. But once there, apart from willingly facing the camera in a phiren and embroidered skullcap, he coaxed his wife Preeti to wear silver danglers and headgear like the women of the Valley.

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Like most honeymoons, that was a trip to be cherished, unlike their recent holiday in Australia. While sightseeing, when his children asked him to get on to a slide in the Opera House, he developed cold feet. When Preeti sneered that age was getting the better of him, a defiant Vijay slid down at a speed that landed him in hospital with a fractured tailbone.

Over the years Preeti has learnt to live with Vijay’s idiosyncrasies. Ask her and she will tell you how finicky he is about the house, his clothes, her clothes and all else. She has also got used to his erratic timings. Having grown up in a family where men closed shop early, Preeti could not accept Vijay’s post-midnight schedules. She often slept hungry while waiting to eat with him, and they frequently fought about his unregimented lifestyle. Had it not been for the family farmhouse where he would take her for a drive to cool off tempers, the marriage may have been on the rocks.

Preeti says she has never dared to shop because Vijay rarely likes anything he does not choose himself. “I don’t have a right to buy even a sofa for the house.” The only time Preeti actually ventured out on her own was when she bought a tabla, which Vijay plays regularly. He is now learning to play the piano but the joy of his life remains singing. His favourite pastime, however, is “taashmein bluff khelna”, in which he often scores.

Vijay boasts his family “likes everything that is aesthetic and beautiful”. Ask them what this means and they tell you it means decongesting the lanes of the walled city, dusting the grilles in the balcony and developing gardens; in other words, routine jobs in a politician’s life. Vijay says his USP is doing things differently. That there seem no visible signs of this in his cramped office is another matter. This also runs contrary to his oft-repeated claim of “liking cleanliness while being untidy myself”.

From the days when he beat up the university’s vice-chancellor while spearheading an agitation to postpone exams, Vijay has donned several roles and nomenclatures — from ‘lottery-wala Vijay Goel’ (when he got lotteries banned) to ‘khilone-wala Vijay Goel’ (by virtue of starting a toy bank). He is often spotted at the Marghat Baba Temple in Civil Lines which got a facelift when he was MP. “Again beauty,” he promptly reminds you. A devotee of Lord Hanuman, he performs Tuesday rituals regularly. But his claim to fame: “Vajpayeeji (Atal Bihari Vajpayee) loves me and I love him… dono bahut zyada… (both very much)”.