Alka Lamba quits AAP, says she has joined Congress

Disgruntled AAP MLA Alka Lamba on Friday quit the party and announced that she has returned to the Congress.

Lamba, who resigned from the AAP's primary membership, said she met Congress president Sonia Gandhi in the evening and joined Congress.

"I stayed away from the Congress for six years but I always stood firm on its ideology. Today I have returned to the Congress. As a member of the Congress, I will work towards strengthening the party," she told reporters outside Gandhi's residence at 10, Janpath.

However, there was no official confirmation from the Congress over her joining the party.

The MLA from Chandni Chowk asked the AAP leadership to accept her resignation on Twitter and said it had now become the "Khas Aadmi Party".

She took a swipe at AAP spokesperson Saurabh Bhardwaj who had said the party would accept her resignation even on Twitter.

"@ArvindKejriwal Ji, your spokespersons asked me as per your desire, with the 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'," she said on Twitter.

The past six years, she said, had been a period of great learning.

"The time has come to say Good Bye to #AAP and to resign from the primary membership of the Party," she added.

She also posted a video on Twitter on which she says that she has been trying to take an appointment from Bhardwaj to submit her resignation but she is not being given time by the party.

"Hence I am going to submit my resignation on Twitter," she said.

Bhardwaj did not respond to calls from PTI.

Lamba, who started her political career with the Congress and was in the party for about 20 years before joining the AAP, last month announced that she had made up her mind about leaving Delhi's ruling party and contesting the upcoming Assembly election as an Independent.

She has been at odds with the AAP for a while. After the party's defeat in the Lok Sabha polls, she had sought accountability from its national convener Kejriwal. She was then removed from the official WhatsApp group of the party's lawmakers.

She had also refused to campaign for the party in the Lok Sabha polls and did not participate in Kejriwal's roadshow after she was asked to walk behind his car during the event.

Lamba first hit a rough patch when she objected to the party's decision to pass a resolution to revoke Rajiv Gandhi's Bharat Ratna.

In December 2018, she said in a tweet that AAP had asked her to support the resolution, which she refused. Lamba then added that she was ready to face any punishment for her actions.