Former student leader Alka Lamba quits Congress, may join AAP

Former National Students Union of India President Alka Lamba has quit the Congress and could be joining the Aam Aadmi Party, a development that the ruling party sought to downplay saying it was long that she held any post in the party or was fielded in any election.

"I have heard her name for the first time. Who is she?" was the curt response of Congress leader and Union Minister Beni Prasad Verma.

He said that while there is a scramble for tickets in the Congress, "the party (AAP) which you are naming has opened all its door and windows (for ticket seekers)", suggesting that Lamba might be going there as she was not given a ticket in the Congress.

AAP leader Yogendra Yadav said, "Alka Lamba and a few members of other parties, including the BJP, came to meet the party leaders. It was made clear to them that anyone is welcome in the party as a volunteer."

Lamba, a former president of Delhi University Students Union, was appointed the general secretary of All India Mahila Congress in 2002.

She was also the former secretary of the All India Congress Committee and had also served as the general secretary of the Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee.

Lamba had joined NSUI in 1994 and won the DUSU election for the post of president in 1995. In 2003, she unsuccessfully contested the Delhi assembly

polls from the Moti Nagar constituency against BJP leader Madan Lal Khurana.

"After losing the election from Motinagar by a margin of around 25,000 votes, she wanted to contest the civic body polls as well the assembly polls later on but the party did not give her a ticket. She was not holding any party post for a long time," said a party leader.

Image: Alka Lamba has quit the Congress