Srinagar: PDP chief visits mehbooba mufti His visit to Awantipora in Pulwama on Friday for an upcoming AIIMS and his review of the project with officials has sparked a political storm in Jammu and Kashmir, with the ruling NC alleging that the Center has taken this step at a time when it has intensified its demand for restoration of the state.National Conference (NC) spokesperson Tanveer Sadiq accused the BJP-led Center of using the PDP to create political backlash against the Omar Abdullah-led government. The allegations intensified when former CM Mehbooba spoke to Union Health Minister JP Nadda after the review and requested him to expedite the work.The PDP hit back, saying that a government with a comfortable majority should not feel threatened by a visit to a public health project site, and that it should be concerned about patients in Kashmir who are still waiting for access to a major healthcare institution.Jammu and Kashmir got two AIIMS under the Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana (PMSSY) in 2015. While the one at Samba in Jammu is operational, the Awantipora facility is under construction. Both projects started in 2019.The Awantipora project has repeatedly missed completion dates and the new deadline is December 2026. Visiting the site, Mehbooba recalled that her father Mufti Mohammed Sayeed, as CM, had conceived the project. This prompted the PDP – which counts the region as a stronghold – to accuse the Omar-led government of failing to effectively monitor and expedite the project.However, NC suspects a bigger conspiracy in Mehbooba’s visit. National Conference spokesperson Sadiq said, “When we passed an autonomy resolution in the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly after the 1996 elections, Delhi countered it by helping the PDP emerge as an alternative political force. Now when we have decided to go to New Delhi to protest for the restoration of the state, the Center has once again roped the PDP into it by arranging a briefing for Mehbooba.”Jammu and Kashmir’s Health Minister, NC’s Sakina Itu claimed that Mehbooba is working at the behest of the Centre. Itu said, “Which center of power in Delhi is directing these works? It is ironic that the people who caused the AIIMS project to proceed at an extremely slow pace are now trying to claim ownership of its progress. The fact is that the project is moving towards completion because of the commitment of CM Omar’s government.”PDP hit back at the claims. Party functionary and Mehbooba’s daughter Iltija Mufti recalled that the NC government had publicly criticized the location of the Awantipora project and had “cautiously avoided the review meeting from 2024 to delay the inauguration of the institute”.Pulwama PDP MLA Waheed Para accused Omar of not giving priority to the project. Like Iltija, Parra claimed that Omar had commented last year that the site was selected due to political considerations during the PDP’s tenure.People’s Conference chief and MLA Sajjad Lone criticized Mehbooba’s review, calling it “nothing less than a constitutional crisis”. Lone said, “I cannot believe that the CM has not reacted to an incident that further weakens the already weakened power structure of Jammu and Kashmir.”