AIIMS crowded because of Biharis, doctors shouldn’t treat them: BJP minister Ashwani Kumar Choubey

Union Minister Ashwani Kumar Choubey has sparked a row with a statement over people of Bihar visiting All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in the national capital for treatment.

According to reports, the minister, who represents Buxar constituency in Lok Sabha, had said that AIIMS in Delhi gets crowded because of people from Bihar. He said that people from the state rush to Delhi even in cases of minor ailments, which can be treated in Bihar itself.

The remarks were made by Choubey during a programme for Mission Indradhanush in Patna on Sunday.

He also said that AIIMS must send such people back to Bihar without providing any treatment.

A complaint letter in this regard was filed in a Muzaffarpur court on Tuesday by one Tamanna Hashmi, who is reportedly a social activist.

The opposition seized the opportunity to target Choubey, claiming his statement was an insult to the people of the state. While senior Congress leader Premchandra Mishra said that Choubey had insulted Biharis, Shivanand Tiwari of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) said that the BJP leader had gone insane.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), however, came in defence of the statement, with senior leader and Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar, Sushil Kumar Modi, saying that Choubey’s statement was misunderstood.

He said that Choubey just asserted on the need of better healthcare facilities in Bihar so that people from the state did not need to go outside for treatment.