BJP protests Vaishno Devi medical college admissions after 42 Muslim students dominate first MBBS batch

In a sharp escalation of an already heated controversy in Jammu and Kashmir, the BJP has formally protested the admission list of the newly established Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Institute of Medical Excellence (SMVDIME) after 42 of the first 50 MBBS seats went to Muslim students.

The party is demanding an immediate review of the admission norms and corrective measures.

A BJP delegation led by Leader of Opposition in the J&K Assembly Sunil Sharma met Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha on November 22 and submitted a memorandum seeking intervention. The protest follows days of street demonstrations in Reasi district by right-wing groups angered by the religious breakdown of the inaugural batch.

The dispute stems from the college’s first seat-allocation list for the 2025–26 academic year, which recorded 42 Muslim students, seven Hindus and one Sikh. Several Hindu organisations have argued that an institute funded through donations to the Vaishno Devi Shrine Board should reflect what they call the “religious ethos” of the shrine. They have demanded that SMVDIME be declared a minority institution to allow faith-linked reservation.

BJP MLA from Udhampur RS Pathania intensified the charge on social media, writing that institutions built with the “devotion and offerings” of pilgrims must “align with the Shrine’s sacred ethos” and urged amendments to the Shrine Board Act and University Act.

The protests widened earlier this week when members of the Yuva Rajput Sabha, Rashtriya Bajrang Dal and Movement Kalki marched to the university campus and forced open a gate before being stopped by the police. Demonstration leaders called the admissions “unacceptable,” demanding a fresh round of counselling and reservation-linked rule changes.

“This college has been built from donations given by Hindus visiting the Vaishno Devi shrine. The funds must be used for the welfare of the Hindu community,” said Rashtriya Bajrang Dal president Rakesh Bajrangi.

However, officials at SMVDIME clarified that the admission process was fully merit-based and no religion-linked reservation is permissible because the institute does not hold minority-institution status.

Protest leaders have warned they will intensify the agitation if LG Sinha, who also chairs the Shrine Board, does not intervene immediately.