Each time the Rajya Sabha MP and State NPP President, WR Kharlukhi opens his mouth to give a public statement he does so at great cost to his own Party. By spewing venom at the Opposition and deriding them in the most revolting manner, he is belittling his own stature. In a democracy the Opposition is not the enemy and a certain amount of civility is expected among politicians. Moreover, the prime duty of a parliamentarian is to represent the people of Meghalaya and speak on issues of concern for the state. Kharlukhi on the contrary has asserted his role as NPP Chief while subsuming his role as a public representative into that of party politics. Rarely has Kharlukhi been heard raising issues in the Rajya Sabha. Anyone would think that all is well with Meghalaya. Rather, other MPs not belonging to the region seem more concerned about the illegal coal mining and other developmental backlogs that plague Meghalaya. Between having to defend the several acts of omission and commission of the MDA Government led by his Party the NPP, and his role as MP, the scales have tilted towards his role as NPP President. No Party President has had to defend the Party as much as Kharlukhi has.
In contrast, the UDP President is hardly ever heard defending his Party or saying anything controversial. Not even when the Education cum Home Minister from his Party has often over-stepped his brief – from the police encounter at Cheristerfield Thangkhiew’s home resulting in the death of the former militant to the recent tear -gassing of agitating teachers, to the systemic corruption that facilitates illegal coal mining and transportation in broad daylight. But that is also because the UDP Chief is also the Speaker of the present House. Going by parliamentary norms, the UDP Chief should have stepped down from his post as Party President but in Meghalaya such norms are not observed. The NPP Chief has been left to single-handedly defend the MDA Government. Surely Kharlukhi is not blind to these crimes happening in the state. Add to all this the shameful dome collapse which is now sought to be buried much like a cat buries its excreta, by contracting IIT Guwahati to help do the cover-up job.
In every scam that has surfaced from the rice scam to the Saubhagya scam no one has been held accountable – not the Ministers in Charge of Social Welfare and Power nor the officers, when corruption should have been dealt with speedily. Someone must be held culpable for the acts of commission. The fact that Meghalaya has a silent citizenry has only emboldened the Government to take corruption in its stride.
