Delhi MLA Alka Lamba resigned from the Aam Aadmi Party on Friday, after months of being at loggerheads with the leadership. Some reports alleged that she may soon join the Congress.
“The time has come to say ‘good bye’ to AAP and to resign from the primary membership of the party,” Lamba said in a tweet. “The past six years’ journey was a great learning for me. Thanks to all.”
The resignation came days after Lamba met Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday at her residence. Lamba had then said that Gandhi “really wants” her back in the Congress. “She asked me what I wanted and I told her that I have worked a lot for the people as an [AAP] MLA from Chandni Chowk and I want to be an MLA from the area again,” Lamba had said. “Gandhi said that she really wants me back in Congress, but the party has to look for the best role for me.”
Last week, Lamba had she will give up the party’s primary membership but will retain her position in the Delhi Assembly. Before that, she had said that she was thinking of contesting the upcoming state elections as an independent candidate. “I’m not called to meetings,” she had alleged. “I am insulted repeatedly. I spent 20 years in the Congress, and while I struggled with family politics even there, I do not even get basic respect in AAP.”
However, AAP spokesperson Saurabh Bharadwaj had called her an “attention seeker”, and said that she had announced her resignation a dozen times in the past.
Lamba has been at loggerheads with AAP for several months. In December, Lamba had claimed that Kejriwal asked her to resign from the party after she refused to support a proposal in the Delhi Assembly on revoking former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi’s Bharat Ratna. Lamba said she had opposed the resolution as she respected the former prime minister. She was also rebuked by the party for speaking to the media without asking what the party’s line on the matter was.
Lamba later hinted that the party had been excluding her from official discussions and had even removed her from their official WhatsApp groups. After the Lok Sabha elections, Lamba had suggested that Kejriwal take responsibility for the party’s dismal performance and resign.
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