Union Minister of State for Petroleum, Suresh Gopi, MP, has said that he “will not come seeking votes” without laying the foundation for an All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) campus in Keralam.

Also Read: Suresh Gopi trying to scuttle AIIMS in Keralam, says Health Minister Muraleedharan

Mr. Gopi’s comment in Thrissur on Wednesday (October 7, 2026) that he would stick to his stance was the latest salvo in the ongoing public skirmish between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s MP from Thrissur and State Health Minister K. Muraleedharan over Keralam’s two-decade-old “unrealised dream” of an AIIMS in the State.

The political controversy over AIIMS had escalated after the Union government recently told the Kerala High Court that an AIIMS in Keralam was not an immediate priority for the BJP-led Central government.

The Centre said the Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana (PMSSY) scheme focussed on States with shaky healthcare infrastructure, and Keralam had a robust medical and research ecosystem, prompting the High Court to ask whether the State’s superior health indicators impeded the establishment of AIIMS.

Mr. Gopi also sought to inject politics into the controversy by stating that successive Left Democratic Front (LDF) and United Democratic Front (UDF) governments in Keralam were loath to allow an AIIMS campus in his constituency in Thrissur.

He said he had suggested Kerala Agricultural University’s expansive campus at Vellanikkara in Thrissur as a possible site for AIIMS and given Alappuzha district as a second choice for establishing the premier institution.

Mr. Gopi claimed that former Revenue Minister and Communist Party of India (CPI) leader K. Rajan, among other non-BJP politicians who did not prioritise Thrissur as an AIIMS location, were backing his demand.

Mr. Gopi also denied that the Centre was opposed to an AIIMS in Keralam. “Union Health Minister J. P. Nadda had told Keralam MPs that the State would get an AIIMS at the appropriate time,” he added.

Mr. Gopi also blamed the media for portraying his talks with Mr. Muraleedharan and Chief Minister V. D. Satheesan concerning Keralam’s two-decade-old demand for an AIIMS as evidence of a “BJP-Congress deal”.

He also accused the LDF and UDF governments of failing to make any concrete proposal, including possible sites, for an AIIMS to the Central government. Mr. Gopi said Congress-led governments at the Centre had snubbed Keralam’s aspiration for an AIIMS, and neither the LDF nor the UDF had objected.

Open to debate

Mr. Gopi reiterated his challenge that he was willing to have an open debate on the AIIMS question with Mr. Muraleedharan.

Mr. Muraleedharan had on Wednesday dismissed Mr. Gopi’s dare, saying he did not view the Union Minister as a conventional politician plugged into the aspirations of Keralam. Mr. Muraleedharan had also challenged him to come up with a definite proposal on the proposed location of AIIMS.