Madurai AIIMS 95% complete, claims Nadda; 'building stolen', quips Cong MP

The Congress has latched on to Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president J P Nadda’s statement during his recent visit to Tamil Nadu regarding construction of AIIMS Madurai wherein he had said that work on the project was 95 per cent complete.

Congress MP Manickam Tagore on Friday tweeted that he visited the site of AIIMS Madurai after Nadda’s statement on the progress of the project and that the hospital’s building “could not be found”.

As Tagore shared visuals of his visit to buttress his claim, a Tamil Nadu BJP leader said that the BJP chief’s comments on the project were “misquoted”.

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Nadda’s claim

Nadda had given details of the amount allotted for AIIMS Madurai at an event in Madurai on Thursday: “I am happy to share that Rs 1,264 crore was allotted for the AIIMS project. Today 95 per cent of the work has been completed. Very soon it will be dedicated by the prime minister to the nation,” Nadda had said during the event

An additional amount of Rs 164 crore was added for an infectious disease block, Nadda added and said that the hospital would have 750 beds in total, and among these would be 250 ICU beds.

The missing building?

But Congress MP Tagore on Friday shared a series of tweets in a rebuttal. “Dear @JPNadda ji. Thank you for the 95% Completed #MaduraiAIIMS. I and Madurai MP @SuVe4Madurai searched for one hour in the Thoppur Site and found nothing. Someone had stolen the building… Regards,” the leader said in one of the posts. Madurai MP Su Venkatesan had accompanied him, Tagore said.

We went to the Thoppur AIIMS Madurai site … we found nothing . #MaduraiAIIMS pic.twitter.com/9CBxHEs6Mt

— Manickam Tagore .B🇮🇳✋மாணிக்கம் தாகூர்.ப (@manickamtagore) September 23, 2022

Tagore also shared a video in which he is heard saying that “It’s very amazing that former minister lies about completion like this. This is the way they betray the people of Tamil Nadu.”

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Following Congress MP’s claims and a similar post by a journalist, BJP’s Tamil Nadu vice-president Narayanan Thirupaty issued a clarification. “He (JP Nadda) said that 95 per cent of work towards starting of construction is completed and also said the construction will soon begin,” Thirupaty tweeted.