Slap, Spat, Rebellion: Why Alka Lamba Drew Daggers Against AAP, Went Back to Congress

New Delhi: Alka Lamba, Congress candidate from Chandni Chowk, hit the headlines on Saturday when she tried to slap an Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) worker after a scuffle broke out between AAP and Congress workers near Majnu ka Teela in the national capital.

Lamba had severed ties with AAP and Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal after disagreements and a public spat. The 43-year-old lawmaker met Congress president Sonia Gandhi in September 2019 and thereafter quit the AAP.

Lamba, who started off as a student leader in the Congress in 1994, has in the recent past spoken openly against the AAP. “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,” the Chandni Chowk MLA had said in a tweet in June last year.

Given her constant sparring with AAP leaders, she was removed from various party WhatsApp groups. She also refused to campaign for the party during the 2018 Lok Sabha elections and did not participate in Kejriwal’s roadshow as she was asked to walk behind his car during the event.

In April, Lamba engaged in a bitter Twitter spat with AAP’s Greater Kailash MLA Saurabh Bharadwaj, who dared her to resign from the party. Following this, Lamba addressed a large crowd outside Jama Masjid and alleged that the party leadership was “weakening” her.

She had earlier upset AAP leaders over their decision to pass a resolution to revoke Rajiv Gandhi’s Bharat Ratna over his comments on the 1984 anti-Sikh riots. Lamba had raised objections to the party’s resolution and said she was ready to face any punishment because of her actions.

After her stint as a student leader, Lamba was appointed the general secretary of All India Mahila Congress in 2002. In 2003, she unsuccessfully contested Delhi Assembly elections from Moti Nagar Constituency against senior BJP leader Madan Lal Khurana.

She quit the Congress in December 2014 to join AAP, and in 2015 won from the Chandni Chowk assembly constituency defeating her nearest rival, Suman Kumar Gupta, of the BJP.