Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday, 9 November 2026, invoked his four-decade-long association with Ramapir no Tekro in Ahmedabad to sharply attack the Congress, accusing successive Congress governments of neglecting the low-income settlement for decades while its residents dutifully voted for the party. Speaking at the inauguration of new housing projects in the area, Shah said the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was finally delivering what Congress never did — permanent homes with basic amenities.

Shah's Personal Connect with the Settlement

Shah told the gathering that his political and social career had taken root at Ramapir no Tekro in 1985, making the site a symbolically charged backdrop for Monday's event. He recalled a settlement defined by open drains flanking rows of houses, inadequate drinking water, broken roads, and limited educational access for children. 'I often wondered how nearly 50,000 to 55,000 people living in Ramapir no Tekro and Gandhinagar Tekro managed their daily lives amid such conditions,' he said.

The Home Minister noted that the BJP's first councillor from the area was elected in 1995, marking the party's entry into local politics there. He also referenced his own election from the Sarkhej Assembly constituency in 2012, saying housing efforts for residents had been sustained since then.

Congress in the Crosshairs

Shah directed pointed criticism at the Congress, charging that decades of rule had yielded nothing for the settlement's residents. 'From 1947 to 1990, the Congress ruled the country and Gujarat, but it did not care about Ramapir no Tekro. The residents continued to vote for the Congress, but the party did not build houses for them,' he said. The remarks are part of a broader BJP narrative — particularly potent in Gujarat — linking the Congress's long tenure with infrastructural neglect of marginalised communities.

What Was Inaugurated

Under the housing projects launched on Monday, 532 residential units and 16 shops have been constructed in Sector 5 at Ramapir no Tekro at a cost of ₹47.14 crore. A separate block of 644 houses has been built in Sector 1 at an expenditure of ₹40.88 crore. Shah said he had personally inspected the newly built units and was satisfied with their quality, noting they were equipped with basic facilities including fans — which he compared favourably to privately constructed flats.

Two schools were also inaugurated during the programme, with Shah highlighting that the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation had upgraded schools in the Gandhinagar Lok Sabha constituency into smart schools under BJP governance.

Broader Rehabilitation Goals

Once the full redevelopment is complete, Shah said, the residential complex would include facilities for social security, recreation, reading, education, and healthcare — benefiting more than 55,000 people. He credited Prime Minister Narendra Modi with initiating the slum-rehabilitation approach and Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel with carrying it forward. Shah claimed that nearly one lakh people in Ahmedabad had already benefited from slum-elimination and housing programmes. He urged residents to prioritise their children's education, saying improved living conditions would open better opportunities for the next generation.

The event marks a fresh political push by the BJP in Gujarat's urban constituencies ahead of future electoral cycles, framing housing delivery as a contrast to what it characterises as Congress inaction.