The foundation stone-laying ceremony for a cancer hospital here, to be attended, among others, by Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi, has taken on political overtones after Punjab Chief Minster Parkash Singh Badal expressed resentment at not having been invited for the event.
The laying of the foundation stone for PGI's Satellite Cancer hospital in collaboration with Tata Memorial Cancer Hospital is scheduled here on October 10.
The first phase of the hospital will be completed at an estimated cost of Rs 1,000 crore.
Talking to reporters at Malerkotla here, Badal expressed displeasure that his government had not been invited for the function.
The chief minister said that not inviting the state government for an event to be attended by Congress Vice- President Rahul Gandhi and Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare Ghulam Nabi Azad exposed the Congress design of seeking to gain political ground in Punjab.
Ruling Shiromani Akali Dal Secretary General Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa, who was accompanying Badal, claimed that the proposal for the cancer hospital had been sent by the state government in view of rising cases of the disease in Malwa region.
On being contacted, local Congress MP Vijay Inder Singla said it was PGI Chandigarh's prerogative to send the invitations for the foundation stone laying event.
