Ex-NSUI president gets cracking in Chandni Chowk

Right from her childhood, Aam Aadmi Party legislator Alka Lamba has drawn inspiration from the Gandhian Ideology and great women leaders like Indira Gandhi.

Taking to student politics was not difficult for this athlete as she saw an idol in the former prime minister.

“I was so inspired by Indira Gandhi that I once thought of having hairstyle like her,” says Lamba, 39.

Lamba, MLA from Chandni Chowk, who learnt the tricks of politics in the Congress for 20 years before joining the AAP, says: “It was a struggle to survive initially and without my father’s motivation I would have never got a foothold in politics”.

In her maiden Delhi Assembly electoral battle, Lamba defeated her rival S K Gupta of the Bharatiya Janata Party by 18,287 votes.
She now promises to improve the condition of the roads and solve the civic issues of her constituency.

Lamba, a former president of the Delhi University Students’ Union (DUSU) and former national president of the National Students’ Union of India (NSUI),  says: “Earlier, the Congress used to follow the Gandhian ideology, but now the scenario is different; the grand old party is deviating from its path”.

Being a woman, it was a challenge to prove yourself in the Congress, she adds.
Kiran Bedi is another strong  woman who has influenced Lamba. “It is good that she stepped into politics to serve the country,” she says.

Lamba also has a reason on why she picked the AAP for her political career. “The Congress and BJP are doing typical politics which people do not like and the AAP has come to change this,” she says.

“From my 20 years of experience in politics I have learnt a lot and now I will utilise it in AAP for serving the people,” she says.

“I follow the concept of swaraj and satyagraha,” says Lamba who calls her win from the constituency satisfactory as she does not belong to the area.

In the coming days, Lamba is planning to meet the people from the municipal corporation and BJP MP Harsh Vardhan to chalk out a development plan.

 “A lot of fund came from the government to beautify Chandni Chowk, I don’t understand what the corporators have actually done with the fund,” she says.

 Chandni Chowk being the shopping hub, a lot of work has to be done. Apart from water and power issues there are many other problems like encroachment removal, road improvement and sewer redevelopment, she says.

The daughter of a retired Army engineer belongs to a non-political and middle class family, with six sisters and mother. 

Lamba has seen a lot a struggle and challenge in life and now she loves to accept challenges.

“When I joined politics 20 years ago, women never used to come into politics, it is not the way it is now. My father encouraged me. Today, he feels proud of what I have achieved without any compromise,” says Lamba.

Lamba, a single parent with a 17-year-old son, says: “Even my son Hrithik Lamba helped me during the election campaign.”

In her free time Lamba loves to eat homemade vegetarian food cooked by her mother.