By Our Reporter
SHILLONG, June 20: Former NPP state president and Rajya Sabha member, WR Kharlukhi on Thursday said the party lost the Lok Sabha elections in both the seats due to the issue of the reservation policy.
He observed that the reservation policy caused a divide with one side (Khasi-Jaintias) wanting a review of the policy while the other side (Garos) standing up against it.
“They (Garos) look at the chief minister as someone who caters to the need of the Khasis,” Kharlukhi said while giving his assessment on the NPP’s poll debacle.
He however lauded the chief minister saying, “It is better that we lose the elections but as a statesman you have to decide what is right for the sake of unity in the state.”
He reminded how the chief minister convened a meeting and agreed to the demand for review of the reservation policy because “it was the only way out”.
“My point is if the election has been won on the issue of clean politics then it is good but if this election has been won (by the VPP) because of the hunger strike and the demand to review the reservation policy then it is a bad sign,” the veteran politician said.
Stating that politics keeps on changing, he said, “We have a chief minister who won back-to-back elections but there are times when you lose elections. Dr Mukul (Sangma) was the CM for eight years then he lost. That is part of politics.”
“It also depends on the situation you are facing. My assessment is that we did not lose the election because the BJP supported us. In 2016, the BJP not only supported us but the then Tribal Affairs minister campaigned for us and the CM won by a record margin in Garo Hills.”
Asked if the VPP wave in Khasi-Jaintia Hills will have an impact on the 2028 Assembly polls, Kharlukhi said, “That I don’t know. Here is VPP wave…there is a Congress wave. If the waves collide I don’t know what will happen.”
He also stated that the VPP can only destabilise all political parties in the state only if they can win in Garo Hills region.
“Meghalaya is not Khasi-Jaintia region, Meghalaya is also Garo Hills. Let them plunge into Garo Hills politics. If they can win Garo Hills then they will destabilise but as of today the Congress is coming up in Garo Hills,” he said.
On the VPP’s decision to not join any of the alliance at the Centre but extend support to the INDIA bloc as and when needed, the Rajya Sabha MP said, “The only thing is people have given them the mandate. I wish them well.”
He made it clear that the voice of the Northeast will be heard in Delhi when a party from here sends at least 20 MPs to Parliament.
“N Chandrababu Naidu with 16 MPs and Nitish Kumar with 12 MPs now hold the key to Delhi. They will get whatever they want for their state. If we had 20 MPs from the NE, we would have decided the politics in Delhi,” he added.