SHILLONG, Sep 19: NPP state president and Rajya Sabha member, WR Kharlukhi on Sunday likened the Opposition Congress to a mother who pays more attention to her younger son, making the elder one feel left out enough to throw tantrums.
He made the observation while referring to the apparent differences within the Congress camp with former chief minister Mukul Sangma and several MLAs from the Garo Hills region skipping the function to mark the return of former leaders to the party as well as the formal anointment of three-time MP Vincent H. Pala as the Meghalaya Pradesh Congress Committee president.
Adding fuel to the speculations on dissidence, Dr Sangma had told the media that Congress contesting the 2023 Assembly elections unitedly was a “million-dollar question”.
Kharlukhi did not agree to theories that the former CM was hinting at leaving the Congress. “Dr Sangma is a seasoned politician who will not commit such blunders and at the same time, Pala is a very shrewd politician. He will surely realise how valuable Dr Mukul is for the Garo Hills and will not allow him to do so.”
The NPP leader declined to comment on whether he foresaw Pala edging out Dr Sangma to take control of Congress in Meghalaya.
Pointed out that Congress has been aggressively inducting veterans as well as new leaders in its fold and has also reached out to NPP legislators who had come from the Congress, he said: “They can do whatever they want to, but the real test will be the 2023 Assembly polls.”
“Just as the Congress is a threat to us, the NPP is a threat to the Congress,” he added.
