Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Friday locked horns with Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi over central funds to Bihar and dared the Congress leader to stop the allocation to the state, saying the funds are not given at somebody's 'meharbani' (favour).
"Allocation of funds to the state by the Centre is in keeping with settled norms and provisions, it is not at somebody's meharbani (favour)," Kumar told an election meeting in Motihari while canvassing support for the National Democratic Alliance nominees.
As the campaign rhetoric ahead of the polls in the state grew shrill, the Janata Dal-United leader also dared the Congress general secretary to stop the funds being sent by the Centre to Bihar.
The first phase of the six-phase elections starts on October 21 and ends on November 20. Gandhi had during election meetings at Sikti, Korha and Raghopur on Thursday claimed that the Centre had provided more funds for the development of the state 'but it failed to reach the deserving sections of society because of corruption.'
"It is unfortunate that development has not taken place in Bihar despite the funds provided by the United Progressive Alliance government to the tune of Rs 1 lakh crore. It was double the amount given by the previous NDA government to the state - which was Rs 50,000 crore only," he said.
Kumar, who held the Congress responsible for the ills plaguing the states, charged that the Congress and Rashtriya Janata Dal were 'hand-in-glove and separately contesting the polls only to befool the people.'
