Excelsior Correspondent
NEW DELHI, June 18: J&K National Panthers Party activists led by Harshdev Singh, chairman and former Minister today staged a dharna at Jantar Mantar here and held a massive demonstration to lodge their protest against the shifting of Rs 1600 crores AIIMS project to Kashmir that was earlier announced to be established at Jammu.
A large number of NPP leaders and workers including Harshdev Singh, Balwant Singh Mankotia, State president, Yashpaul Kundal, State president, Young Panthers, Rajiv Jolly Khosla, president, Delhi Pradesh Panthers Party, Pushvinder Singh Manhas, Pavan Dev Singh and others assembled in the morning at Jantar Mantar and after staging a sit- in for three hours proceeded towards Parliament raising anti-BJP and anti-coalition Government slogans. They were intercepted by the police on their way and stopped from moving further.
Addressing the gathering on the occasion, Harshdev Singh lambasted the unholy and unethical alliance of BJP and PDP in J&K which had been consummated with the sole objective of sharing the loaves of power. He said that the two parties which were diametrically opposed to each other on all issues had entered into an opportunistic and adulterous relationship under a highly mischievous power sharing agreement.
Accusing the BJP of taking a complete ‘U’ turn on its core philosophy and making a seismic shift from its avowed fundamentals, Mr Singh said that the saffron party had committed the blunder. Rebuking the BJP for its cowardly submission to the whims of its coalition partner, Mr Singh said that the AIIMS shall not be allowed to be shifted from Jammu. He said that the BJP led Government at the Centre could sanction one more AIIMS for Kashmir but the already approved AIIMS was required to be established in Jammu.
He said that announcement for establishment of AIIMS at Jammu was made by two Union Ministers on February 28, 2015 at New Delhi and therefore, BJP’s offering it to PDP on a platter merely for crumbs of power was the biggest betrayal with the people of Jammu region. Warning the BJP to desist from its lame duck posturing, Mr Singh said that any further betrayal with Jammu would cost the saffron party its’ postal address in the days to come.
Balwant Singh Mankotia, State president vowed to continue the protests against the shameless surrender of the BJP on the issue of AIIMS. He said that Jammu region has very fragile tertiary health care system and divesting this region of AIIMS would be greatest injustice. He said Kashmir already has SKIMS which offers specialized treatment facilities. But Jammu region continued to be ignored and deprived in the BJP partnered Government.
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