Delhi Speaker Ram Niwas Goel on Thursday disqualified rebel Aam Aadmi Party MLA Alka Lamba from the Assembly according to provisions under the anti-defection law, days after she tweeted her resignation, PTI reported. Earlier this month, Lamba had said that it was time to bid farewell to the party and to give up its primary membership.

Lamba’s disqualification will reportedly be effective from September 6, a statement said. The leader represented the Chandni Chowk Assembly seat, which is now vacant.

The decision came after AAP spokesperson Saurabh Bharadwaj filed a petition, saying that Lamba had joined the Congress. “Alka Lamba, the Respondent in this case, an elected Member of the Legislative Assembly of the National Capital Territory of Delhi, elected from Chandni Chowk [Assembly Constituency No 20] has become subject to disqualification under Paragraph 2 (1) (a) of the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution,” the statement read.

Earlier in the day, Lamba had alleged that the Speaker and AAP leaders had asked her to officially resign. “You had arrogantly asked me to resign on Twitter, which I did,” she tweeted. “If this is not serving your purpose, it is neither my problem nor of my people’s.” She had also challenged the party to expel her instead of asking for her resignation.

After facing disqualification, Lamba told the Speaker that she had never submitted a resignation to the party, reported NDTV. “I was asked if I had joined the Congress officially,” she said. “I told him [Speaker Ram Niwas Goel] no. My picture with Sonia Gandhi was shown in the Assembly. When asked about it, I showed Arvind Kejriwal’s photo with Lalu Prasad Yadav and asked what could be implied.”

Lamba had met Congress President Sonia Gandhi earlier in the month and claimed that Gandhi “really wants” her back in the party. This came after the former AAP leader alleged that she was not called to meeting and often insulted. “I spent 20 years in the Congress, and while I struggled with family politics even there, I do not even get basic respect in AAP,” she had said.

Lamba had been at loggerheads with AAP for several months. Last December, Lamba had claimed that Kejriwal asked her to resign from the party after she refused to support a proposal in the Delhi Assembly on revoking former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi’s Bharat Ratna.

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