SHILLONG, Jan 12: Rajya Sabha member and National People’s Party (NPP) president WR Kharlukhi on Tuesday called the Congress “Rip Van Winkle” of Meghalaya for sleeping over issues.
“The Congress ruled the state for almost 30 years and Dr Mukul (Sangma) was the Chief Minister for eight years but they did nothing, so they are the Rip Van Winkle of Meghalaya,” Kharlukhi told The Shillong Times.
He was reacting to the statement of the Leader of Opposition that the state government was caught napping on the issue of Inner Line Permit (ILP).
“It’s alright they accused us of sleeping. But what were they doing for 30 years. Snoring? They knew the issue very well but did nothing,” Kharlukhi said, adding, “We came to power in 2018 and we passed the resolution (on ILP) in 2019.”
Kharlukhi slammed the Opposition for its remarks on ILP and said it will politicize anything as it does not have any issue. Sangma had earlier stated that the state government should have followed up the ILP demand with the Centre more aggressively.
The demand gained momentum after some pressure groups had asked the ruling dispensation and the Opposition to leave aside their politics for 2023 elections and unite to mount pressure on the Centre to grant ILP.
Rip Van Winkle is a short story by the American author Washington Irving, first published in 1819. It follows a Dutch-American villager in colonial America named Rip Van Winkle who meets mysterious Dutchmen, imbibes their liquor and falls asleep in the Catskill Mountains. He awakes 20 years later to a very changed world.