AAP's Punjab MLA Amarjit Sandoya joins Congress party

The sitting Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA from Roopnagar Amarjit Singh Sandoya on Saturday joined the Congress party in the presence of Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh.

Singh welcomed Amarjit to the party's fold and said it was Punjab government's initiatives in the last two years that had encouraged the opposition MLAs to join the Congress.

"We have got a major boost from the wave of the exodus from members of various opposition parties in the state. It is a clear endorsement of our government's path-breaking initiatives over the past two years," said Chief Minister Singh while speaking to reporters here.

He said that AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal's oppressive style of functioning had forced the leaders of his party to join the Congress.

"Arvind Kejriwal's autocratic style of functioning and the chaos in the state wing of the party were making its legislators feel suffocated. They are motivated to shift to the Congress because of our focus on the state's development," he said.

Singh urged Sandoya to put in his best for the parliamentary elections in the state and help Manisha Tewari, who is the party's MP candidate from Anandpur Sahib constituency in Punjab.

This is the second jolt to the AAP in a week's time. Earlier AAP MLA from Mansa, Nazar Singh Manshahia, joined the Congress on April 29.

Punjab will see polling for all 13 seats on May 19, the last phase of the Lok Sabha elections. The counting of votes will take place on May 23.