J&K political storm after Mehbooba reviews AIIMS project

SRINAGAR: A visit by PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti to an upcoming AIIMS in Pulwama’s Awantipora on Friday and her review of the project with officials has sparked a political storm in J&K, with the governing NC alleging the Centre orchestrated the move at a time it has intensified demands for restoration of statehood.

National Conference (NC) spokesperson Tanvir Sadiq accused the BJP-led Centre of using PDP to create a political counterweight against the Omar Abdullah-led govt. The allegations intensified as ex-CM Mehbooba spoke to Union health minister JP Nadda after the review, requesting him to expedite work.

PDP hit back, saying a govt with a comfortable majority should not feel threatened by a visit to a public health project site, and that it should be concerned about patients in Kashmir still waiting for access to a premier healthcare institution.

J&K got two AIIMS under Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana (PMSSY) in 2015. While the one in Jammu’s Samba is operational, the Awantipora facility remains under construction. Both projects started in 2019.

The Awantipora project has repeatedly missed completion dates and the new deadline is Dec 2026. Visiting the site, Mehbooba recalled that her father Mufti Mohammad Sayeed had envisioned the project as CM. This prompted PDP --- which counts the area as a stronghold --- to accuse the Omar-led govt of failing to monitor and expedite the project effectively.

NC, however, suspected a bigger design in Mehbooba’s visit. “After the 1996 polls when we passed an autonomy resolution in the J&K assembly, Delhi countered it by facilitating PDP’s emergence as an alternative political force. Now when we have decided to go to New Delhi to protest for the restoration of statehood, the Centre has once again involved PDP by arranging a briefing for Mehbooba,” Sadiq, the NC spokesperson, said.

J&K health minister, NC’s Sakina Itoo, claimed Mehbooba was acting at the Centre’s behest. “Which power centre in Delhi is directing these actions? It is ironic that the people because of whom the AIIMS project moved at a painfully slow pace are now trying to claim ownership of its progress. The fact is the project is moving towards completion because of the commitment of CM Omar’s govt,” Itoo said.

PDP pushed back against the assertions. Party functionary and Mehbooba’s daughter Iltija Mufti recalled that the NC govt publicly criticised the location of the Awantipora project and “studiously avoided a review meeting since 2024 just to delay the institute’s inauguration”.

Pulwama PDP MLA Waheed Parra accused Omar of not giving the project priority. Like Iltija, Parra claimed Omar had remarked last year that the site was selected due to political considerations during PDP’s tenure in office.

Peoples Conference chief and MLA Sajad Lone slammed Mehbooba’s review as “nothing short of a constitutional crisis”. “I can’t believe the CM has not reacted to an event which further erodes J&K’s already eroded power structure,” Lone said.