No AIIMS for Gujarat? As BJP Leaders Pitch for Their Cities, Centre Yet to Give Its Nod

Ahmedabad: An official release by the central government did not to mention Rajkot, or any city in Gujarat for that matter, for the set up of the All India Institutes of Medical Sciences. Political leaders in Gujarat have claimed however, that the Centre has cleared a proposal to set up AIIMS in the city.

Senior BJP leaders, including the party's state unit chief Jitu Vaghani and Energy Minister Saurabh Patel congratulated the people of Rajkot saying the Centre has given a clearance to establish an AIIMS in the city.

"In Ahmedabad, the state government has provided various medical facilities. In Surat also world-class medical facilities are available. In such circumstances it is good that an institute like AIIMS is being established in Rajkot," Vaghani told reporters in Jasdan in Rajkot district.

Energy Minister Saurabh Patel even went so far as to to thank Prime Minister Narendra Modi for giving AIIMS to Rajkot."

However, a Press Information Bureau (PIB) release issued on Monday only listed Tamil Nadu and Telangana as states where the Union cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister had approved for the establishment for the institute.

Meanwhile, leaders from Rajkot and Vadodara regions are gunning for the premier medical facility to be set up in their respective regions.

Gujarat Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel had earlier warned the leaders from both the regions that if they continued to fight, the state might lose the establishment of such a premier medical facility.

"The chief minister of the state is from Saurashtra and the party president is also from that region. Therefore, they are flexing their political muscles and trying to bring AIIMS in their area. Actually Vadodara is the right place for this facility," BJP MLA Yogesh Patel, representing Manjalpur constituency in Vadodara district said.

Congress leader from Rajkot Hemang Vasavda, however, said that AIIMS should come up in Rajkot as the entire Saurashtra region lacks this kind of medical facility.

State Congress president Amit Chavda, who hails from central Gujarat said both, deliberated that both Vadodara and Rajkot should get one AIIMS each. "As the PM is from Gujarat, we want to know why he is not giving an AIIMS to both Rajkot and Vadodara. We will welcome his decision, if he does so," Chavda said.