Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday, 12 July 2026 participated in a mass tree-plantation drive under the 'Hariyali Lok Sabha' campaign in the Stadium Ward of Naranpura Vidhan Sabha, part of his Gandhinagar Lok Sabha constituency in Gujarat. The initiative has seen residents of the constituency collectively plant an estimated 1.25 crore-plus trees, Shah said, describing it as a significant milestone in the drive to make Gandhinagar a greener parliamentary constituency.

Context

Shah posted in Gujarati on X (formerly Twitter), stating that citizens of the Gandhinagar Lok Sabha area had made a 'vital contribution' — ('એક મહત્ત્વનું યોગદાન') [one important contribution] — towards realising the resolve to build a 'Hariyali Lok Sabha' [Green Parliament Constituency] through collective tree plantation. He added that as part of the campaign, he himself planted trees today in the Stadium Ward under Naranpura Vidhan Sabha.

The Gandhinagar parliamentary constituency covers urban and semi-urban zones surrounding the Gujarat state capital. Naranpura is one of the assembly segments within this belt and has seen rapid urbanisation in recent years, making green-cover initiatives particularly relevant.

Policy Backdrop

The Hariyali Lok Sabha campaign is a constituency-level afforestation effort aimed at achieving high-density tree cover across Gandhinagar. It draws on a broader tradition of mass plantation in Gujarat, where state governments have run annual Van Mahotsav programmes and large-scale plantation drives since the early 2000s as part of state forest policy.

At the national level, India's National Mission for a Green India — launched in 2014 under the National Action Plan on Climate Change — set targets to expand forest and tree cover across the country. Constituency-level campaigns by national leaders complement these central and state programmes, particularly in rapidly urbanising regions where green cover is under pressure.

Stakeholders and Impact

Gandhinagar residents and urban local bodies are the primary stakeholders in this drive. Community participation in mass plantation is considered a key factor in ensuring that saplings survive beyond the initial planting season, and local ward-level engagement — such as the Stadium Ward event — is seen as a way to build long-term ownership of green spaces.

Urban forestry efforts in Gujarat's capital region carry broader significance as Gandhinagar is a planned city that has seen expanding residential and commercial development. Sustained green-cover programmes are viewed by urban planners as essential to managing heat, air quality, and biodiversity in such rapidly growing zones.

What's Next

The release of official sapling-survival-rate data will be a key indicator of the campaign's real-world impact, as large-scale plantation numbers are often scrutinised for actual tree survival beyond the monsoon season. Observers will also watch whether similar 'Hariyali'-style drives are extended to neighbouring Gujarat constituencies ahead of the next Lok Sabha electoral cycle.

As urban India grapples with rising temperatures and shrinking green cover, constituency-level afforestation campaigns — backed by senior national leaders — are likely to become a recurring feature of political and environmental outreach across the country.