Alka Lamba Quits AAP For Congress With Parting Shot At Arvind Kejriwal

Alka Lamba has been at odds with the Aam Aadmi Party for some time.

After many months of bitterness, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA Alka Lamba quit the party today with a tweet saying it was "time to say good bye". She also urged party chief and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to "accept her resignation" on Twitter, sneering that AAP was now "Khas Aadmi Party". Hours later, she announced in another tweet that she was joining the Congress.

She did so at Congress president Sonia Gandhi's 10 Janpath home, where she had gone earlier this week for a meeting that set off speculation that she would return to her old party ahead of the Delhi polls next year.

"The time has come to say 'Good Bye' to #AAP and to resign from the primary membership of the party. The past six years' journey was a great learning for me. Thanks to all," Alka Lamba tweeted.

@ArvindKejriwal Ji, your spokespersons asked me as per your desire, with the full arrogance that the Party will accept My resgination even on the Twitter.
So pls Kindly accept My resgination from the primary membership of the
"Aam Aadmi Party", which is now a "Khas Aadmi Party".

- Alka Lamba (@LambaAlka) September 6, 2019

The move was no surprise; she had been talking about leaving AAP for some time and had even declared she would contest the Delhi election as an independent candidate.

Disenchanted for some time with the AAP leadership, Ms Lamba, 43, had met with Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday. She had told reporters then that her discussions revolved around issues including the current political situation of the country.

Ms Lamba had been with the Congress for 20 years before she joined Arvind Kejriwal's AAP in 2013. She won the Delhi election from Chandni Chowk.

After the party's drubbing in Delhi in the national election earlier this year, Ms Lamba had riled her AAP bosses by demanding accountability from Arvind Kejriwal. She was then removed from the official WhatsApp group of party MLAs.

Amid public sparring with various AAP leaders, she refused to campaign for the party in the election and even opted out of Mr Kejriwal's roadshow after she was asked to walk behind his car.

Ms Lamba openly disagreed with AAP over its decision to pass a resolution last year to revoke former prime minister and Congress leader Rajiv Gandhi's Bharat Ratna. She had raised objections to the party's resolution and said she was ready to face any punishment for defying her leaders on this.