Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday, 12 July 2026, launched a tree-plantation campaign for the Gandhinagar Lok Sabha constituency at an event in Ahmedabad, and simultaneously inaugurated and laid the foundation stones for various development projects worth ₹405 crore. Shah, who represents the Gandhinagar seat, announced that constituency residents had already planted more than 1 crore trees at the start of this monsoon season.

Context

Posting in Hindi and Gujarati, Shah said the drive marked 'prakriti sanrakshan aur harit vikas ki disha mein ek aur kadam' — 'another step towards nature conservation and green development.' He added that residents of the Gandhinagar Lok Sabha area had already accomplished the planting of more than 1 crore trees even as the monsoon was just beginning. The post was tagged with the hashtag #एक_पेड़_माँ_के_नाम (Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam), linking the drive to the national afforestation campaign of the same name.

The event in Ahmedabad served a dual purpose: formally inaugurating the plantation campaign for the constituency and unveiling a set of civic and infrastructure projects. Shah stated that the ₹405 crore initiatives would expand green cover, improve air quality, and extend civic amenities across the city.

Policy Backdrop

The Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam campaign — translating to 'One Tree in the Name of Mother' — was launched nationally in 2024 to promote large-scale afforestation, with BJP leaders across the country encouraging citizens to plant trees as a tribute to their mothers. The campaign has since been used as an organising frame for constituency-level plantation drives during successive monsoon seasons.

Combining afforestation pledges with infrastructure announcements has become a recurrent feature of constituency events in Gujarat under the current administration, aligning environmental messaging with visible delivery of development works. Gandhinagar, as the state capital region and Shah's own parliamentary seat, has frequently been the site of such combined launches.

Stakeholders and Impact

The primary beneficiaries are residents of the Gandhinagar Lok Sabha constituency and the broader Ahmedabad urban population. Expanded green cover is expected to moderate urban heat, improve air quality, and enhance public spaces in one of India's fastest-growing metropolitan regions.

The ₹405 crore package of development projects — spanning inaugurations of completed works and foundation-stone layings for new ones — is directed at upgrading civic infrastructure. Local bodies, residents' welfare associations, and urban planners are among the stakeholders who will oversee implementation and monitor outcomes.

What's Next

Attention will now turn to the survival rate of the saplings planted this monsoon season and whether the 1 crore figure translates into lasting green cover, a metric that environmental observers have flagged as critical to judging the long-term impact of mass plantation drives. The utilisation and completion timelines of the ₹405 crore projects will similarly be watched by local stakeholders and civic groups. Follow-up plantation events are likely as the monsoon progresses through Gujarat in the coming weeks.