Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Chandni Chowk legislator Alka Lamba on Friday said she had resigned from the primary membership of the party, adding that she had decided to join the Indian National Congress.
Ms. Lamba, who quit AAP’s primary membership, said, she would shortly join the Congress in the presence of its president Sonia Gandhi and asked the party’s leadership to accept her resignation on Twitter where she had announced her decision to quit AAP earlier during the day alleging that it had now become the “Khas [special] Aadmi Party.”
“@ArvindKejriwal Ji, your spokespersons asked me as per your desire, with full arrogance that the Party will accept My resignation even on the Twitter. So pls Kindly accept My resignation from the primary membership of the ‘Aam Aadmi Party’, which is now a ‘Khas Aadmi Party’ (sic.)” she said on Twitter.
“The time has come to say Good Bye to #AAP and to resign from the primary membership of the Party,” she said further adding that the past six years during which she was a part of AAP had been a period of “great learning” for her.
The spokesperson she was referring to was AAP Greater Kailash MLA Saurabh Bhardwaj who said the party would accept her resignation even on Twitter.
Political career
Ms. Lamba began her political career with the Congress and was with the party for about 20 years before joining AAP. Last month, she announced that she had made up her mind about leaving Delhi’s ruling party and contesting the upcoming Delhi Assembly election as an Independent candidate.
Ms. Lamba’s relationship with the party began souring after she objected to the party’s decision to pass a resolution to revoke the Bharat Ratna conferred upon former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi at the Delhi Assembly in December 2018, following which she was removed from AAP’s list of spokespersons.
She had also refused to campaign for the party in the Lok Sabha polls and did not participate in AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal’s road show after she was asked to walk behind his car during the event. After the party’s defeat in the Lok Sabha polls, she had sought accountability from Mr. Kejriwal following which she was removed from the official WhatsApp group of the party MLAs.
