Jammu: Deputy Chief Minister Nirmal Singh and Forest Minister Bali Bhagat are the two most worried men in the BJP. They were the ones who on June 18 gave in writing to the AIIMS Coordination Committee (ACC) a commitment that they would get necessary orders from the Government of India for the establishment of the proposed AIIMS for Jammu in Jammu latest by July 20. Not only Nirmal Singh and Bali Bhagat, even their party MLAs like Sat Sharma, Rajesh Gupta and Ravinder Raina have been keeping awake in the night, as they were also there when Nirmal Singh and Bali Bhagat gave a written commitment to the ACC. They are, according to many insiders, striving to the hilt to obtain the necessary orders from the Union Government.
Sources say that “Nirmal Singh and Bali Bhagat are quite hopeful that they would deliver the promise within the stipulated period”, but add that “Kashmiri parties are working overtime to scuttle the moves of the state BJP on the issue”. “The Kashmiri parties do not want the Government of India to set up AIIMS in Jammu. Some top Kashmiri leaders, including from the BJP, have been persuading influential persons in Delhi to not review the decision under which the AIIMS was shifted from Jammu to Kashmir. They are warning the central leadership that the decision to set up AIIMS in Jammu would create serious problems in Kashmir,” sources say, adding that “vested interests in Kashmir are blackmailing New Delhi by saying that establishment of the AIIMS in Jammu would further alienate Kashmiri Muslims from India”. Sources further say that “vested interests in Kashmir are using social media and planting negative stories” and suggesting that “the Prime Minister has rejected the written assurance given by Nirmal Singh and Bali Bhagat”. Nirmal Singh has contested this claim and asserted that nothing of this sort ever happened.
Very significantly, sources close to Nirmal Singh and Bali Bhagat “have given those close to them to understand that they would put in their papers on July 20 in case the Government of India didn’t announce an AIIMS for Jammu by that date”.
“We would not be able to show our faces to the people Jammu region in case we failed to deliver the promise. We would be abused, ridiculed and taunted by the people of Jammu region. We would also lose our face and credibility in Kashmir. It would be better if we tender resignation on July 20. Our resignation would help us win over the people of Jammu region,” sources close to them revealed.
“They don’t want to quit the government, but their problem is that they cannot stay put in it after July 20 in case an announcement to the effect that AIIMS will be established in Jammu, “sources further informed.
It will be interesting to see what happens on July 20, the D-day both for Nirmal Singh and Bali Bhagat and the ACC, which has further intensified its movement and threatened a mass movement after July 20.
Dy CM Nirmal may resign on July 20
