Claiming that the Central government has sanctioned AIIMS for Jammu region, the BJP on Friday took out a ‘Dhanyavaad rally’ here to express gratitude to the Union government.
Led by State Forest Minister Bali Bhagat, BJP leaders and activists took out the rally in the city in a cavalcade of vehicles.
“We took out a rally here to express gratitude to the Union government for sanctioning AIIMS for Jammu and to congratulate the people of Jammu province for getting this prestigious institute,” Bhagat said.
Bhagat and Deputy Chief Minister Nirmal Singh had last month given in writing to the AIIMS Coordination Committee (ACC) that the Centre will set up AIIMS in Jammu.
The rally started from Ambphalla Chowk and finally culminated at Dussehra Ground, Gandhi Nagar.
Bhagat said that BJP has fulfilled the promise made to the people of Jammu region by starting the process of setting up of AIIMS here.
“Whenever there has been any problem in Jammu, BJP always came forward to stand by the people,” he said.
“Be it militancy, political instability or onslaught by anti-national elements, our leaders sacrificed their lives to defeat such forces and take out the state from such situations,” he said.
“First it was Jana Sangh then Praja Parishad and present day BJP, which agitated against discrimination and neglect of Jammu during the successive governments of NC and Congress,” he added.
“Today these parties are trying to mislead people on the issue of AIIMS as their leaders are feeling frustrated after losing chairs as ministers and are indulging in false, fabricated and totally unethical campaign against BJP,” he said.
Health Minister Lal Singh and BJP MLAs – Sat Sharma, Rajesh Gupta and Gagan Bhagat – also took part in the rally.
Lal Singh said, “We will soon lay foundation stone of AIIMS in Jammu. Process has already started with identification of 200 acres of land. We have identified the land and will soon process the file in this regard.”
He said that BJP has come out to be a strong force in J&K and this fact cannot be digested by parties like the NC, Congress and JKNPP, which have been making repeated attempts to malign the image of BJP by misleading the people of Jammu on one pretext or the other.
PTI
