New Delhi: Congress candidate from Chandni Chowk constituency Alka Lamba, who won the seat in 2015 by over 18,000 votes, is headed for a big loss this time.
The leading candidate from the seat at 12.50 pm was AAP’s Parlad Singh Sawhney, who was ahead of BJP’s Suman Kumar Gupta by 17,908 votes, according to the Election Commission website.
Lamba is at the third position, garnering only 1,234 votes.
Lamba had been a prominent face of the AAP for the last five years as its MLA from Chandni Chowk, after crossing over from the Congress in 2014. However, she returned to the grand old party in September 2019 after a fallout with the AAP.
On the polling day, Lamba got into a scuffle with AAP workers outside a booth where she tried to slap a worker after the latter allegedly made some derogatory remarks.
Left Congress in 2014, joined back in 2019
Since late 2018, Lamba has been involved in constant altercations and run-ins with the AAP leadership. In December 2018, she threatened to quit the AAP over its resolution demanding withdrawal of the Bharat Ratna given to late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. Subsequently, she refused to campaign for the AAP in the Lok Sabha elections. Lamba had reportedly also sought accountability from party leader Arvind Kejriwal after the Lok Sabha loss, following which she was removed from the official WhatsApp group of its lawmakers.
In May 2019, just days after the Lok Sabha election results, Lamba posted a tweet announcing her decision to leave 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,” she had tweeted.
2013 में आप के साथ शुरू हुआ मेरा सफ़र 2020 में समाप्त हो जायेगा।
मेरी शुभकामनाएं पार्टी के समर्पित क्रांतिकारी ज़मीनी कार्यकर्ताओं के साथ हमेशा रहेगीं, आशा करती हूं आप दिल्ली में एक मजबूत विकल्प बने रहेगें।
आप के साथ पिछले 6साल यादगार रहगें-
आप से बहुत कुछ सीखने को मिला।
आभार।
— Alka Lamba – अल्का लाम्बा ??? (@LambaAlka) May 25, 2019
The following September, Lamba severed all her ties with the AAP after a meeting with Congress president Sonia Gandhi.
AAP spokesperson Saurabh Bhardwaj had called her a “chronic attention seeker”.
While it was reported that Lamba will be contesting the 2020 Delhi assembly polls as an independent candidate, she ended up joining the Congress with which she had shared a two-decade-long association before she left it to join the AAP.
Also read: Viral photo of ex-AAP leader Alka Lamba pointing to Congress symbol on her T-shirt is fake