Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Thursday claimed that the UPA Government under PM Manmohan Singh in the last ten years  had given enough for the development of Bihar.

Speaking at the foundation stone laying ceremony of a branch of the AMU in the border district of Kishanganj, the UPA chairperson said, “The UPA Government has given Rs1.3 lakh crore during this period for the development of Bihar… and, the Government is also funding Madrasas so that children from minority community could get education.”

While referring to the 2014 elections, Sonia Gandhi said, “It will be a battle of ideologies and the Congress has always believed in secularism.”

"Samaj ko batne ki koshis ho rahi hai…hinsa phailane ki koshis ho rahi… sampradayikta ek bada khatra ban raha hai," said Sonia. “Beware of such forces…it has become the biggest challenge for us and the country to fight against such forces," she added.

Immediately after Sonia Gandhi left the venue of foundation-laying ceremony, Bihar CM Nitish Kumar, who was also present on the occasion criticised the Centre saying Rs1.3 lakh crore earmarked by the Centre was “a very meagre amount”.

He said that whatever Centre has given to Bihar for its development was not enough.”

“It was like unt ke muh meh jeera,” he said, emphatically while explaining that “if there was no special status for the State what all these support and help meant forIJ”

The Bihar CM also said that not enough was done for opening the AMU branch but now something has been given “which is even not enough”.

There could be no development of education for the minority community students with these meager grant, rued Nitish Kumar.

Earlier before leaving for Kishanganj, Nitish Kumar said that he agreed to attend the foundation-laying ceremony because it was he who had suggested Kishanganj as the venue.

“The Bihar Government had provided 224 acres land free and also a building for academic work till the Centre came up,” he said.

The Bihar Government, earlier, had lodged a strong protest with HRD Minister Pallam Raju saying that it was not invited to the inauguration ceremony for political reasons.

Meanwhile, taking umbrage at Nitish Kumar's claim that Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi’s stand on corruption is as “farce”, the State Congress leaders have fumed against him saying that Nitish Kumar should not forget that his Government was running on the support of four Congress MlAs.

But, Nitish Kumar preferred to retort the Congress leaders daring them to withdraw the support from his Government. "We'd not gone to them requesting their support to our Government instead they had come on their own. let them withdraw their support…the Government is comfortable," he said.