After much controversy, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has finally received an invitation to the foundation-laying ceremony of an Aligarh Muslim University centre by Congress chief Sonia Gandhi at Kishanganj on Thursday, which he confirmed he would attend on Wednesday.
Invitation letters from Union Human Resources Development minister M M Pallam Raju and Vice-Chancellor of AMU reached the chief minister and state education minister PK Shahi late Tuesday evening, Kumar's secretary Atish Chandra said on Wednesday.
The chief minister who was away in Banka and returned in Patna in the evening agreed to attend the ceremony on Thursday, sources in the CMO said.
The Bihar government had lodged a strong protest with Raju, claiming that it was not invited to the inauguration by Gandhi due to political reasons, though the AMU on Tuesday insisted that it had sent an invitation to the Chief Minister.
AMU Vice Chancellor Zameeruddin Shah had said the 'confusion' over the invite could have been due to a 'mix-up' in the CM's office and that he had sent a second invitation to Kumar.
A sulking Kumar had hit out at the central government on Tuesday saying it had taken the 'cowardly' decision as it was afraid that Bihar government would get credit for the AMU centre.
Congress on Wednesday attacked Kumar for raking up a controversy over the issue with state party president Ashok Chaudhary saying that AMU centre was a 'dream project' of Sonia Gandhi and 'the CM in the garb of AMU is trying to derive political advantage' by 'hoodwinking' Muslims.
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