Alka Lamba resigns, claims she has joined Congress

NEW DELHI: Aam Aadmi Party MLA from Chandni Chowk Alka Lamba on Friday claimed that she had “joined” the Congress at the party chief Sonia Gandhi’s residence. Earlier in the day, Lamba resigned from the primary membership of the party on Twitter and urged AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal to accept her resignation. The development comes a few days after Lamba met Sonia Gandhi.
“I have joined Congress and will complete the formalities like taking the primary membership of the Congress by going to the Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee office in a couple of days,” said Lamba.
She added that a meeting with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi earlier set the stage for her joining the party. “Congress wants to bring back the young leaders, who had left the party, and prepare the ground for the assembly elections. I was away from the party for six years, but I always held its ideology close to my heart,” she said. But she has still not taken the membership of Congress.
Lamba has crossed over to Congress at a time when the party is going through a tough phase in Delhi. “I am ready to face any struggle. I prefer the politics of ideology over easy politics,” she added.
Lamba, who is aspiring to be a Congress’ candidate from Chandni Chowk assembly constituency in the upcoming assembly elections, said that she will also send her formal resignation letter to the AAP chief soon.
Differences cropped up between Lamba and the party leadership post the 2017 municipal elections when the party did not perform well in Delhi. Things reached a flashpoint in December last year when Lamba opposed a resolution moved in Delhi assembly to demand to strip Rajiv Gandhi of Bharat Ratna for his comments on the 1984 riots. The resolution was, however, not passed in the assembly.
In April, Lamba conducted a referendum in her constituency on whether she should join Congress or remain in the AAP. As per public opinion, she chose not to change her party. AAP sources claimed that the referendum was staged. Before joining AAP in December, 2014, Lamba had served Congress in different capacities for over 20 years.
Despite several attempts, AAP leaders refused to respond when asked about the Alka Lamba’s decision.