Ex-NPP president lauds Congress’ stand against FCRA Bill
Shillong, Oct 26: Former NPP chief WR Kharlukhi, who quit the party recently, has declared his support for the Congress candidate Vincent H Pala in the upcoming Shillong Lok Sabha bye-election.
Announcing his position, Kharlukhi mentioned that the Congress has been opposing the Foreign Contribution Regulation Amendment (FCRA) Bill, 2026, one of the key concerns in Meghalaya.
“I have decided to support Congress and its candidate Vincent H Pala in this coming bye-election for the Shillong parliamentary seat,” Kharlukhi told reporters on Monday.
Declaring his position on FCRA amendment, he said, “For 79 years of independence, I feel threatened because of this Bill. Section 16-A of the amendment Bill is very disturbing and cannot be accepted.”
Crediting Congress for blocking the Bill in Parliament, he said, “Had it not been for Congress… the Bill would have become an Act… I don’t know what would have happened to the Christian minority.”
“On this basis, I decided to support Congress because if we want to protect ourselves, we have to strengthen Congress,” he said.
He, however, refused to give any timeline of his plan to join the Congress party.
Kharlukhi, who was NPP president for 17 years, also dismissed claims of being sidelined. “I was never sidelined. I left as president on my own feelings.
“I never betray my party when they are out of power,” he said, recalling how he left UDP in 1998 after winning 7 of 7 seats in Jaintia Hills.
He said a single MP cannot achieve much in Parliament. “Sending 1-2 MPs to Parliament is of no value. I raised Eighth Schedule, ILP, coal mining, Look South Policy, no result. This is a problem with a party having one MP in Parliament, Lok Sabha has 543 MPs,” he said.
‘NDA ministers listen but do nothing’
The former Rajya Sabha MP, meanwhile, said he stopped attending NDA meetings after realising that being with the Centre yields nothing.
Reminding his tenure as Rajya Sabha MP when former Tura MP Agatha Sangma was in Lok Sabha, Kharlukhi said despite raising issues like the NEHU VC appointment, nothing moved.
“There is a perception that if we are with the party in power in Delhi, we can help our people. But through experience I tell you, once we reach there… You might have forgotten the VC post in NEHU,” he said.
Recalling meetings with Union ministers, he said, “They listen but work does not happen.”
“There I realised it is not possible. I never attend NDA meetings,” Kharlukhi said.
Rating MDA’s performance, he said the public has already rated it. “We have had two parliamentary elections, so the result is enough,” he said.
On BJP growing from 2 MLAs to 10, Kharlukhi said its test will be in 2028.
“Before 2023, the same question was asked about TMC. When 12 MLAs left Congress for TMC, I said the party is yet to be tested by people, let us see in 2023. We saw the result,” he said.
On whether more NPP leaders are in touch to shift to Congress, he said, “When I decide to support a party, I decide on my own. When I decide to leave a party, I decide to leave on my own.”
