Political turmoil in Jammu and Kashmir over review of AIIMS Awantipora, Mehbooba Mufti on target of opposition.

Tezzbuzz Desk – The politics of the state has heated up after former Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir Mehbooba Mufti inspected the under-construction AIIMS project in Awantipora, Pulwama and held a review meeting with the officials. From ruling parties to opposition leaders have started raising questions regarding this step, while PDP is calling it a step taken in the public interest.

While sharing the information on social media, Mehbooba Mufti said that she has spoken to Union Health Minister Jagat Prakash Nadda and urged to complete the AIIMS Awantipora project on time. According to him, it is very important to start this project soon to strengthen the health services in Jammu and Kashmir.

However, Jammu & Kashmir National Conference has expressed strong objection to his move. Party leaders say that reviewing a central project by an unelected person is not appropriate from the constitutional and administrative point of view. National Conference leaders raised the question that if the former Chief Minister can hold a review meeting like this, then other non-elected political leaders can also make such a claim in future.

Responding to this criticism from PDP, party spokespersons said that AIIMS Awantipora was dreamed of by former Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed and Mehbooba Mufti had reached there only with the aim of knowing the progress of the project and accelerating it. He claims that the elected representatives of the area were also present with him and their objective was to provide health facilities to the public quickly.

BJP has also jumped into this controversy. Party leaders said the review of national projects like AIIMS should be done only by authorized government bodies and under the elected administrative system. BJP leaders say that being a former Chief Minister, Mehbooba Mufti has no constitutional right under which she can hold such an official review meeting.

Sajad Lone has also raised questions on this issue. He said that if non-elected leaders start reviewing government projects, it will raise questions on administrative processes and may start a bad tradition.

Sakina Itoo, Health Minister in the Jammu and Kashmir government, also reacted to the issue without taking names. He said that some people are still behaving as if they are in power, even though the public had ousted them from power years ago. He claimed that it is due to the efforts of the present government that the AIIMS project is progressing rapidly.

Currently, this controversy that started regarding AIIMS Awantipora has started a new debate in the politics of Jammu and Kashmir. On one hand, PDP is calling it an issue of public interest, while on the other hand, opposition parties are considering it as a matter related to political interference and constitutional decorum.