New Delhi: Soon after the Congress party released its manifesto ahead of the Lok Sabha election, two AAP MLAs – Alka Lamba and Saurabh Bharadwaj – got into a verbal spat on Twitter with Bharadwaj asking Lamba to return to Congress. It all began when Lamba questioned the possibility of an alliance between AAP and Congress after the latter released its manifesto without any mention of the issue of giving full statehood to Delhi.
Lamba tweeted, “In its manifesto, Congress has talked about giving full statehood to Puducherry, but not said anything about Delhi. This makes it clear that for Congress giving full statehood to Delhi is not important. On the other hand, AAP is making this as its main issue. How will an alliance be formed?”
Lamba’s post didn’t go well with Bharadwaj, who later tagged Lamba’s tweet and wrote, “What do you want? Full statehood or…” In her reply, the MLA from Chandni Chowk said, “How does it make a difference what I want … The time to ask this question is over… now the people of Delhi will decide.” Later, Bharadwaj, the legislator from Greater Kailash shared a video in which Lamba can be seen slamming Congress and BJP over full statehood to Delhi.
In reply to this, Lamba said that people of her constituency have been telling that she should allow AAP to make efforts if Congress does not listen to AAP, she should take a decision in favour of the nation to defeat BJP. This triggered a reply from Bharadwaj, who wrote, “Then show some strength, go to Congress party.” Lamba then asked Bharadwaj to join him at Jama Masjid at 3 pm on Wednesday to consult people whether she should join Congress or not. Bharadwaj said he will also participate in the meeting. Interestingly, Lamba was a part of the Congress party for two decades before joining AAP.
Few week back, when ANI asked Lamba about returning to Congress, she said, “I have not received any proposal from Congress. I have given 20 years to Congress out of my 25 years in politics. When Congress and BJP used to fight in Delhi, people stopped BJP from forming a government in the state for 15 years. People were again looking for an option to defeat the BJP and Arvind Kejriwal did that”.
“Now the talks are about the country. I have been seeing how Congress had done well in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh… Congress can perform well in the coming Lok Sabha polls. So, to give strength to the party, we should now come forward,” she added.