BJP, Congress spar over Rewari AIIMS

Chandigarh, February 21

Ministers and Congress MLAs on Thursday sparred over the AIIMS coming up in Rewari. There was ruckus as Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Geeta Bhukkal, Raghuvir Kadian and Shakuntla Khatak sought a clarification as to how the BJP government was claiming that the AIIMS in Rewari was the first in the state when the one at Badhsa in Jhajjar had come up during the Congress regime.

Finance Minister Capt Abhimanyu said the Badhsa hospital was merely a regional centre of the AIIMS in New Delhi and had been converted into a cancer institute due to the present government’s efforts. Accusing the Congress MLAs of being biased against southern Haryana, Agriculture Minister Om Prakash Dhankar said, “Jealousy towards Manethi will dwindle Hooda’s support. The Congress is shrinking anyway.”

Health Minister Anil Vij said the state’s first AIIMS would be constructed at a cost of Rs 1,100 crore. He added that this AIIMS had been approved in the Union Budget. He said the National Cancer Institute in Jhajjar was the country’s first big hospital to work as an AIIMS extension. — TNS