Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA Alka 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 Delhi Assembly reportedly 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.
"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 said.
"Delhi Assembly passes a resolution demanding Bharat Ratna be taken back from late Rajiv Gandhi," the news agency PTI reported.
Clarifying her stand on the issue, Lamba took to Twitter, saying: “Today, Delhi assembly passed a resolution demanding the withdrawal of the Bharat Ratna award given to late prime minister Rajiv Gandhi. I was asked to support the resolution in my speech which I didn’t accept. I walked out of the assembly. Now, I will accept whatever action will be taken against me.”
The party, however, is yet to make any official statement on the entire controversy.
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA Somnath Bharti defends its move, saying that the lines on Rajiv Gandhi was not part of the original resolution which was distributed to its MLAs and he himself later proposed the amendment and passed on to Jarnail Singh.
Taking to Twitter, Bharti wrote, "In connection with a dispute about a line on Sri Rajiv Gandhi in the resolution passed in assembly today, I confirm that the line was not part of original resolution distributed to MLAs n it was me who suggested the line as an amendment n passed on to Sri Jarnail Singh Ji ".
"Jarnail ji didn't propose that amendment n never put that 4 vote.Amendments r always put to vote separately n unless passed,that can't form part of passed resolution.1st I talked of this in my speech n then suggested this amendment n party had no opportunity to see same," he added.
"I further clarify that amendment I proposed was not put to vote as an amendment n hence there is no question of passing the same. Hope this answers the dispute conclusively," Bharti clarified in a series of tweets.
Dubbing the AAP as the "B Team" of the BJP, the Congress's Delhi unit said it was showing its "true colours". Delhi Congress president Ajay Maken asserted that Rajiv Gandhi sacrificed his life for the country, in reply to ruling party's attacks on the former prime minister in the House, and a resolution that demanded taking back the country's highest civilian award bestowed on him.
"Sh. Rajiv Gandhi sacrificed his life for the country. True colours of AAP have come out in the open! I have always believed that AAP is the B team of BJP! AAP fielded candidates in Goa, Punjab, MP, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Chhattisgarh just to cut the votes of Congress and help the BJP (sic)," Maken said in reply to a tweet.
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