SHILLONG: The newly elected Rajya Sabha member from the state, W R Kharlukhi, on Saturday pitched for a prime minister from eastern India saying there were several eligible candidates for the top post.
His list of potential candidates cuts across party affiliations and includes the likes of Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik (Biju Janata dal), West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee (All India Trinamool Congress), former Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi (Congress) and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar ( Janata Dal-United)
Speaking to a group of media persons, Kharlukhi said the country has got prime ministers from south, west and north India and now it’s time that there should be one from eastern India.
“They can be prime ministers and the country should have them from all the regions,” he said.
Two-time former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh represented Assam in the Rajya Sabha although he is not a son of the soil.
Kharlukhi, meanwhile, is beginning to adapt to his new stature – far from the commoner who would go unnoticed even as he quietly strategized the plans and policies of the National People’s Party in his capacity as its state president.
Within hours of winning the Rajya Sabha election, his life has changed as he has started getting the VIP treatment besides other changes.
Kharlukhi said he had always lived as a common man though he is the State President of NPP, but all that has changed since Friday when he won the election.
“ Soon after the announcement, I was given security and personal security officer and even a personal secretary. After the election, we went to Pinewood Hotel and I requested my PSO and PS to leave as I frequently travel with a colleague of mine,” he said.
“ I am not used to such things, but now I will have to adapt”, he said.
Kharlukhi said that though he did not want to be under a security blanket he was helpless as he would now have to follow all the protocols and avail security.
When asked what other changes he was experiencing, he said that on Friday, when he went to Assembly for the polling, several officers were treating him with a lot of respect and courtesy even before being elected.
When asked about his priorities, Kharlukhi said that he is going to pursue the matter of exempting Meghalaya from the purview of CAA as a resolution has been passed to exempt the state from the Act.
Stating that he would try to push all the issues of the state and the region in the Parliament, he added that he would have to learn about parliamentary politics.
“ I am not saying that I will bring the moon and the sun down to the earth but I will work in a way that people of the state will not feel let down,” he added.
When asked if his voice would be heard in Parliament where bigger political parties enjoy more clout, he recalled the times when Prof GG Swell used to speak in the Parliament and there would be pin drop silence.