Alka Lamba says she won’t contest polls as AAP candidate, yet to resign from party

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA Alka Lamba on Sunday said that she will not contest the next assembly elections as an AAP candidate. The Chandni Chowk MLA, however, said that she was not immediately resigning from the membership of the party as it might affect her functioning as an MLA.

“I will quit only after I ensure that quitting the party does not affect my functioning as an MLA. For that, I have sought help from Constitution experts. Meanwhile, I challenge chief minister Arvind Kejriwal to sack me from the party,” Lamba said.

Reacting to the Chandni Chowk MLA’s comments, AAP’s spokesperson Saurabh Bharadwaj said, “She has announced this a dozen of times in the past. It takes one minute to send a written resignation letter to party leadership. We will accept it on Twitter too.”

Referring to rumours about her joining the Congress, Lamba said she is most likely to contest the next assembly elections as an independent candidate. “I will not join the BJP because of fundamental differences. As far as the Congress is concerned, there are people in the party who support me but they have not formally offered me to join. In such circumstances, I am ready to contest as an independent candidate,” she said.

Lamba, who has been at odds with the party leadership for some time, said she took the decision after consulting people in her constituency.

The Chandni Chowk MLA had allegedly refused to campaign for the AAP in the Lok Sabha elections. She had also sought accountability from party chief Arvind Kejriwal after the AAP could not win any parliamentary seat in the national capital.

She had also had a Twitter spat with AAP spokesperson Saurabh Bhardwaj after she was removed from the official WhatsApp group of AAP MLAs.

Lamba had also opposed a party resolution seeking revocation of the Bharat Ratna conferred on former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi.