The statement made by the BJP national president, J.P. Nadda, claiming that 95% of the construction work of AIIMS Madurai building has been completed, led to MPs from opposition parties mocking the ruling party in the Centre.
Mr. Nadda who spoke during a meeting held with industrialists at Madurai on Thursday, claimed that 95% of the construction work has been completed. The number of MBBS seats for AIIMS has been increased from 100 to 250, he mentioned.
Reacting to it, Virudhunagar MP, B. Manickam Tagore (Congress) and Madurai MP, Su. Venkatesan (CPI-M), who inspected the AIIMS site at Thoppur on Friday said, even the board which claimed that the land belonged to AIIMS Madurai erected earlier was missing.
The sprawling land has no signs of any construction work beginning any time soon, they stated.
"Once the works get completed, the Prime Minister (Narendra Modi) would inaugurate it," said the BJP president.
Countering this, Mr. Venkatesan said, the order for a revised estimate of Rs. 1,977 crore was issued in March 2021. "However, the cabinet approval for the same was yet to be given," he added.
"I wonder, how the former Union Health Minister made such a claim when the tender itself has not been floated," said Mr. Tagore.
He charged that Tamil Nadu BJP had misled the national president on an important issue for which people of southern districts have been fighting for the last five years. The BJP has cheated the people of Madurai, he alleged.
Taking a dig at the BJP, Mr. Venkatesan said that he had inspected the AIIMS Madurai site to see "how the building has been constructed using Bulbul".
