Patna, Feb. 29: The Nitish Kumar administration is again headed for a showdown with the Union government, this time over the Central University of Bihar (CUB) which, New Delhi has informed the state, would be set up at Gaya and not at Motihari as desired by the chief minister.

Nitish today wrote a letter to Union human resource development (HRD) minister Kapil Sibal, expressing reservations on the proposal.

“The Centre’s decision to set up the central university at Gaya would hurt the people’s sentiments and the Bihar government would not agree to this decision. If the Centre intends to get the state’s support in setting up the central university, then it should set up the university at Motihari. The state government would make land available for this free of cost,” reads the letter.

The missive is in response to a recent letter from the Union HRD ministry fixing Gaya as the site for the university. “We received the letter around a week ago,” said principal secretary, education, Anjani Kumar Singh.

Nitish’s letter says the Centre appears prejudiced against Motihari. “Representatives of both the Centre and the state are members of the site selection committee, but from your letter it becomes clear that the recommendations made by the committee for Gaya have been made without the participation of the state’s representative in the committee. Hence, it is a one-sided decision of the Centre,” says the letter. It goes on to add: “Magadh University, the largest university of Bihar, is situated in Gaya and is playing its role in the field of higher education in that region. There is no logic in setting up a central university there.”

A source in the education department said that while the Centre can pick its site, it usually takes the state concerned into confidence. “It would be a violation of the spirit of federalism if the Centre doesn’t do so,” he said.

Federalism is a sticky subject and Nitish has time and again raised the issue with Delhi, most recently on the proposed National Counter Terrorism Centre.

Nitish’s letter points out that Motihari was well-connected with Patna. “The Centre does not want to set up the university in Motihari, which is the district headquarters, whereas in the states of Kerala, Odisha, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu etc, central universities have been set up in far-off places and many of these places do not have the infrastructure and connectivity like Motihari. It clearly shows that the Centre has set different parameters for different states,” it reads.