ADC polls: NPP MP plays down VPP challenge

By Our Reporter
SHILLONG, Sep 21: Rajya Sabha member WR Kharlukhi on Saturday said the Voice of the People Party (VPP) is unlikely to dominate the upcoming elections in the KHADC and JHADC.
He told reporters that district council elections are different from Lok Sabha elections.
According to him, the selection of candidates will hold the key to the success of the political parties. “But we cannot deny that the VPP has managed to establish itself as a formidable regional force,” Kharlukhi said, pointing out that it decimated all political parties in the Shillong seat during the last Lok Sabha polls.
To a query on whether the VPP will be able to sustain itself, he said, “When we speak about sustaining in politics, it does not concern only the regional parties but also national parties.”
He said nothing is guaranteed in politics.
On the future of the NPP considering its lesser popularity in the Khasi-Jaintia Hills region, Kharlukhi said the party has its base in Garo Hills and it is not going to be wiped out.
On the Congress, he said there is strong criticism of the leadership of its state chief Vincent H Pala.
“But people fail to remember that the Congress had won from the Tura Lok Sabha seat under Pala’s leadership. In internal politics, people, aspiring to be a leader, will only talk about bad things,” Kharlukhi said.
He cited how the NPP, which had just two MLAs in 2013, managed to rise to power in 2018. He said the Congress in Meghalaya is down and out at present “but, we cannot rule out its resurgence. This is the beauty of politics.”