A visit by PDP president and former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti to the under-construction AIIMS Awantipora in south Kashmir has snowballed into a major political controversy, with rival parties questioning her authority to review a government-funded institution and accusing her of turning a public project into a political platform.
The row intensified after Jammu and Kashmir Health Minister Sakina Itoo questioned the circumstances surrounding Mehbooba’s visit, making what appeared to be a veiled reference to the BJP-led Central Government.
“Who is signalling them to undertake such exercises? Which power centre in Delhi is directing these actions?” Itoo asked, triggering fresh political speculation over the PDP chief’s engagement with the prestigious healthcare project.
Adding to the criticism, Peoples Conference president and MLA Sajad Lone described the episode as evidence of the emergence of a “third power centre” in Jammu and Kashmir. In a strongly worded statement, Lone dismissed suggestions that Union Health Minister J.P. Nadda’s involvement or approval could legitimise Mehbooba’s review of the project.
“Nadda Sahib is the Honourable Health Minister of India. But he does not have the power to redesign constitutional roles,” Lone said. He added that whether Mehbooba had spoken to the Union Minister or not “hardly changes anything”.
The controversy erupted after Mehbooba, accompanied by PDP leaders and local legislators, visited the AIIMS campus on Friday to assess the progress of the project. During the visit, she described the institution as the fulfilment of a long-cherished dream of her late father and former Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, and called for its early completion.
She also flagged concerns raised by local residents, including restrictions on construction activities within a 500-metre radius of the AIIMS campus.
A day after her visit, Mehbooba further fuelled the political debate by posting on X on Saturday that she had spoken to Union Health Minister J.P. Nadda regarding the project.
“Spoke with Union Health Minister JP Nadda ji and requested him to expedite the ongoing work at AIIMS Awantipora so that it doesn’t get delayed any further. He was kind enough to assure me about its completion well on time,” she wrote.
“Undoubtedly, the team assigned here is toiling day and night, but given how healthcare is crumbling across J&K, it is imperative that AIIMS Awantipora becomes operational soon. It will provide much-needed relief and quality medical services,” she added.
The controversy has turned AIIMS Awantipora—one of the Valley’s most significant healthcare infrastructure projects—into the latest political flashpoint, with questions over governance, constitutional propriety and political credit-taking dominating the discourse around a facility that is yet to become operational.
AIIMS Awantipora was sanctioned in 2015 when the late Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, founder of the PDP and father of Mehbooba Mufti, was serving as the Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir with BJP support. The PDP-BJP alliance continued after Mehbooba Mufti succeeded her father as Chief Minister. However, her government collapsed in 2018 after the BJP withdrew its support.
Health Minister Sakina Itoo said, “Some people seem to be suffering from political amnesia. They still behave as if they are in power, even though they lost office in 2018 and have since been repeatedly rejected by the people.”
“The elected government today is led by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah. Yet, one wonders in what capacity former rulers are conducting reviews of the AIIMS Awantipora project. More importantly, who is signalling them to undertake such exercises? Which power centre in Delhi is directing these actions?” she asked.
Directing his remarks pointedly at Mehbooba Mufti, Lone posed a direct question: If she can chair a review meeting of a central institution today without being an MLA, what prevents an RSS or BJP functionary who is not an MLA from doing the same—especially when they can point to 28 MLAs compared to the PDP’s four?