AAP instigating people in Punjab: Congress MP

The AAP is instigating Punjab's people and the Congress will oppose Arvind Kejriwal's visit to Punjab this month if the AAP did not change its agenda for the border state, a Congress parliamentarian said on Thursday.

"Punjab is a very sensitive state and it has already paid a very big price after the emotions of the people were played upon. Kejriwal should not indulge in this kind of politics at all; otherwise, he will have to pay a big price for it," Ludhiana MP Ravneet Singh Bittu said in a statement here.

"Kejriwal should not play with fire by inciting public sentiments in Punjab. It is a very dangerous style of politics indulged in by the AAP."

"The Punjab Congress will not allow Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to visit Punjab if the Aam Aadmi Party does not change its anti-national agenda for Punjab ahead of the next Vidhan Sabha elections,"

"I will lead a protest to stop him along with 35,000 families affected by terrorism in the state in the past. His cavalcade won't be allowed to enter the state," the Congress leader warned.

Kejriwal is scheduled to begin his week-long tour of Punjab on February 20 ahead of assembly polls in February next year.

The Delhi chief minister is expected to meet families of farmers who committed suicide in Punjab in recent years.

Kejriwal addressed a major AAP rally at the Maghi religious fair in Punjab's Bathinda district last month.

Bittu also questioned the "rise in the source of funding of AAP".

"This (funding) also raises serious doubts. The way this party is being funded, it is clear there is involvement of anti-social elements who are sponsoring them from abroad in a big way. Kejriwal should clear his stand on the source of funding," Bittu said.

The AAP is posing a political challenge to the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal-BJP alliance and the Congress, which have dominated Punjab's political space in the past few decades.

Earlier, Kejriwal told the media in Delhi that the AAP is set to win the Punjab assembly elections, adding that he expected the Congress to finish a distant second.

"We are winning (in Punjab)," Kejriwal said at his residence in the national capital. "Delhi will be repeated in Punjab."

"The Akalis are in a bad shape," he added.

Kejriwal led the Aam Aadmi Party to a sweeping win in February last year in Delhi, where it secured 67 of the 70 seats.