Thiruvananthapuram, Oct 6 (IANS) Kerala’s decade long wait for an All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) has once again erupted into a political confrontation, with Union Minister Suresh Gopi and State Health Minister K. Muraleedharan locking horns over where the long pending institute should come up as and when sanctioned.
Gopi, the BJP’s first Lok Sabha winner from Kerala and MP from Thrissur, has thrown his weight behind his home constituency, insisting that Thrissur is the most suitable location for AIIMS.
Muraleedharan has hit back, saying the state has an open mind on the location.
“Let Suresh Gopi show where the land is,” he said, making it clear that he was not prepared to accept Gopi’s challenge, which he termed ‘political’.
The exchange has added a new political edge to an issue that has been simmering in Kerala for more than a decade.
The AIIMS demand dates back to the previous Oommen Chandy government, which, in response to the Centre in 2014, identified four possible locations.
The Centre subsequently asked Kerala to identify suitable sites, but the state has continued to miss out as new AIIMS were announced for other parts of the country.
The issue gains urgency every year on the eve of the Union Budget, with Kerala repeatedly hoping that the project would finally find a place in the Centre’s plans, but is yet to happen.
The latest face off is also taking place on politically sensitive ground.
Thrissur is Gopi’s political base and the constituency he wrested from the Congress at the 2024 polls in which Muraleedharan finished third.
Muraleedharan is the son of former Chief Minister K. Karunakaran, whose final rites were held at his residence in Punkunnam in Thrissur.
Gopi has himself described Karunakaran as one of his political gurus and has spoken of his close relationship with the Karunakaran family.
Muraleedharan, meanwhile, has said that the Kerala government is not insisting on any particular district and has said that the Velloor Newsprint Factory land in Kottayam will also be considered.
Gopi has said that while Alappuzha may make greater economic sense, Thrissur offers the peaceful environment required for an institution of this scale.
With two political heavyweights now openly sparring over the location, Kerala’s decade-old AIIMS wait has acquired a fresh political dimension.
–IANS
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