Day after offering to quit, AAP MLA Alka Lamba says she is not resigning

Aam Aadmi Party MLA Alka Lamba said she was not resigning after her senior party leader and Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said no resignation has been sought from anyone and all these are "rumours". The comments of both the leaders came a day after Lamba said the party has asked for her resignation and she was ready to resign, news agency ANI quoted her as saying.

The move came hours after the AAP denied that the Delhi Assembly passed a resolution demanding the withdrawal of the Bharat Ratna award given to former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, accusing him of ‘justifying’ the killing of innocent Sikhs in the 1984 riots. The 1984 anti-Sikh riots refer to the violence against Sikhs following the assassination of former prime minister Indira Gandhi in October 1984.

"I am not resigning," Lamba told ANI.

Aam Aadmi Party MLA Alka Lamba: I am not resigning. (File pic) pic.twitter.com/dXmvnSkEpp

— ANI (@ANI) December 22, 2018

Earlier, Sisodia said: "No resignation has been sought and from no one, all these are rumours." 

Manish Sisodia, Delhi Deputy Chief Minister on Alka Lamba: No resignation has been sought and from no one, all these are rumours pic.twitter.com/r2SCb4Bg8F

— ANI (@ANI) December 22, 2018

"The Party has asked for my resignation. I'm ready to resign but Rajiv Gandhi has sacrificed a lot for the country and I didn’t support the proposal in Assembly of taking back his Bharat Ratna. I've been asked to resign because I stood against the decision of the party," Lamba had said on Friday night.

The Delhi Assembly on Friday adopted a resolution on the 1984 anti-Sikh riots in which it was demanded that the Bharat Ratna awarded to former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi be withdrawn, but the AAP swiftly distanced itself from the reference to the Congress leader. The matter became a major crisis with Lamba alleging she was "put under pressure" to support the resolution, which she resisted and boycotted.

 Lamba said she was ready to face "any consequences" and claimed she spoke to AAP supremo and CM Kejriwal who, she said, asked her to resign as MLA. 

The Chandni Chowk MLA said she was not happy with the demand to take back Bharat Ratna from Gandhi and staged a walkout in protest. Interestingly, the AAP later distanced itself from the resolution. "After I staged a walkout, I got a message from the chief minister to tender my resignation," she told news agency PTI.

When asked whether she will quit, Lamba had said: "I have won on a party ticket. I will tender my resignation as demanded by the party."