AAP MLA Alka Lamba Quits Party, Joins Congress

After a six-year stint with the Aam Aadmi Party, Alka Lamba, MLA of Chandni Chowk constituency, has quit the party on September 6, citing disrespect within the party as the reason. Hours after quitting the party, Lamba announced her return to the Congress party, which she had quit in 2013. In a tweet thread, she wrote, “The time has come to say "Good Bye" to #AAP and to resign from the primary membership of the Party. The past 6 years journey was a great learning for me.”

Lamba has been contesting the functioning of the party for quite some time now as she has been allegedly removed from key decisions being made in the party.

She submitted her resignation to the party through a video message that she posted on the thread where she talked about how she has been seeking a meeting with party Supremo Arvind Kejriwal but to no avail and hence she was sending her resignation through the video message.

The time has come to say
"Good Bye" to #AAP and to resign from the primary membership of the Party.
The past 6years journey was a great learning for me.

Thanks to all. 🙏🇮🇳. #JaiHind #ChandniChowk #MLA #AlkaLamba #Delhi

— Alka Lamba - अल्का लाम्बा 🇮🇳🙏 (@LambaAlka) September 6, 2019

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At around 6 p.m., of the same day, she visited Congress party chief Sonia Gandhi’s home to formally join the party. She said, “I have spent six years away from the Congress party but I have always stood with the ideology of the party. I am grateful to Sonia Gandhi Ji and Rahul Gandhi Ji for trusting me again. I will work as a party worker to strengthen Congress in Delhi again.”

मैं 6साल कांग्रेस से अलग रही लेकिन मैं हमेशा कांग्रेस की विचारधारा के साथ खड़ी रही
कांग्रेस अध्यक्ष सोनिया गांधी जी और @RahulGandhi जी का आभार व्यक्त करती हूँ,एक बार फिर भरोसा जताने पर.
मैं एक कार्यकर्ता के तौर कांग्रेस के हाथ को मज़बूत करने का काम करूँगी
हम फिर #दिल्ली सँवारेंगे

— Alka Lamba - अल्का लाम्बा 🇮🇳🙏 (@LambaAlka) September 6, 2019

It does not come as a surprise for Lamba to quit AAP as she had been miffed with the party for over a year now considering her sour relationship with party spokesperson Saurabh Bharadwaj. Just after the Lok Sabha elections ended in May, Lamba spoke about the party’s poor performance on Twitter along with which she also announced her decision to part ways with the party. “My journey started with you in 2013 will end in 2020. My best wishes will be with the dedicated revolutionary ground workers of the party, hopefully, you will remain a strong alternative in Delhi. The last six years have been memorable and I have learnt a lot from you,” she had tweeted.

Alka Lamba and Sonia Gandhi. Image Credit: Alka Lamba/Twitter

While she was supposed to quit the party in 2020 when her MLA term ended, she has quit months before that. She has been contesting the functioning of the party for quite some time now as she has been allegedly removed from key decisions being made in the party. She had also claimed that time and again, the party WhatsApp group has removed her when she opposed any of the party’s decision like AAP’s decision to revoke Rajiv Gandhi’s Bharat Ratna recently. She even backed out from campaigning for the party during the Lok Sabha elections and Arvind Kejriwal’s roadshow.

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At around 6 p.m., of the same day, she visited party chief Sonia Gandhi’s home to formally join the party. She said, “I have spent six years away from the Congress party but I have always stood with the ideology of the party.

Her spat with Bharadwaj has also stretched over several months. It has been made public on social media as Bharadwaj taunted her to resign from the party after she held the party top brass accountable for the failure in Lok Sabha election 2019. After the row, she called for a public meeting where she addressed the people outside Jama Masjid telling them that the party is constantly demanding her resignation, in May this year.

Lamba started her political journey right from when she was in college as she joined the National Students' Union of India (NSUI), the student wing of the Congress party at the age of 19. After gathering several achievements including becoming Delhi University Student’s Union (DUSU) President, she joined All India Mahila Congress as its General Secretary in 2003. She worked with Congress for 20 years before joining AAP.

Picture credit: One India

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