Shillong, Aug 24: NPP national president Conrad Sangma has termed former Rajya Sabha MP WR Kharlukhi’s resignation from the party as his personal decision.
“It is a decision that he has taken at his own level and I have nothing to say. I accept whatever his decision is,” Sangma told reporters, on Monday.
According to the chief minister, he shares a long association with Kharlukhi since the time of his late father PA Sangma.
The CM said, “We have worked for a very long time together and we have done many things positively for the state and for the party. I cherish those moments. There comes a time when he has his own mind and maybe there are some things that he wishes to do. We have no issues with that.”
Sangma said the party has always respected its leaders.
The chief minister recalled that his late father had wanted Kharlukhi to become Rajya Sabha MP much earlier but he had declined at that time.
“My late father was very keen that he should become Rajya Sabha MP but that time he had rejected that offer and that is why Thomas Sangma became the Rajya Sabha MP. I felt that a person who has been very active in politics and has given a lot of his time to governance and to people should be voicing our concern in Parliament. So, we went ahead and elected him as the Rajya Sabha MP,” he said.
Sangma said Kharlukhi may have his own concerns and plans for the future.
While expressing sadness over the development, Sangma said, “People will come and people will go, it’s okay. On a personal note, I am of course very sad that this has happened, I didn’t expect this to happen but I respect it and I accept it.”
“We will move on and the party will continue to work. We have a lot of work to be done and a lot of people have joined the party. That is the nature of politics and party politics,” he said. When asked whether the party will persuade Kharlukhi to reconsider, Sangma said, “We will see, we will discuss with the party leaders and then we will take a call.”
