MADURAI: Responding to Revenue Minister R B Udhayakumar’s statement that he would urge all the 10 MLAs from the district, including two DMK MLAs, to resign if AIIMS was not established in Madurai, Madurai East DMK MLA P Murthi and the Madurai South MLA (OPS camp) S S Saravanan said though they disagreed with the minister, they would extend their support.
Former Chief Minister O Panneerselvam said the AIIMS should be established in Madurai as late CM J Jayalalithaa wanted it there.
Speaking to Express, Saravanan said he felt that establishing AIIMS in Madurai is a good option as there is an airport, railway station and road connectivity to the site in Thoppur. “Though Udhayakumar’s aim is to bring AIIMS to Madurai, I do not agree with the resignation plan. I have been elected by people to serve them. Along with Madurai MP R Gopalakrishnan, I will put in my best efforts to get AIIMS.”
“If the two AIADMK ministers and the MLAs are ready to work together, then I am ready to give 100 per cent support,” Murthi said.
“When the Centre sought opinion, the State government said it wanted AIIMS to be set up in Madurai. Setting aside our differences, I am also ready to meet Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami along with the other MLAs in the district as bringing AIIMS to Madurai will benefit people,” Panneerselvam claimed.
In Pudukkottai, Union Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Nirmala Seetharaman said the State government has not made up its mind on the final site for setting upAIIMS.
“Various sites have been inspected. But the State government is yet to finalise a proper site,” she said.