Punjab Congress today appealed to 'Sanjha Morcha', a conglomerate of different political parties, to withdraw its candidate in favour of the party, for the Moga by-poll slated for February 23.
"I am in touch with the Sanjha Morcha patron former governor Surjit Singh Barnala, PPP supremo Manpreet Singh Badal and CPI to persuade them to withdraw their candidate in favour of Congress nominee," AICC member Jagmeet Singh Brar told reporters here.

He said that he would be meeting the top leaders of Sanjha Morcha in a day so that he could convince them to withdraw their candidate Ravinder Singh Dhaliwal from Moga by-poll.

Brar exuded confidence that the Sanjha Morcha will agree as both Congress as well as the Morcha wanted to defeat the SAD-BJP candidate Joginderpal Jain.

Congress leaders have started door to door campaign in Moga town and the villages seeking votes for its nominee Vijay Kumar Sathi, party sources said here.

Brar alleged that Akalis have stooped so low that they "poached" an MLA of the opposition (Congress) to have their own majority in the 117-member assembly.

"Turncoat Jain's joining of SAD was a betrayal of the people who had elected him twice from Moga on a Congress ticket," he said.

Meanwhile, Punjab Congress vice president Ashwani Sekhri strongly criticised Jain's induction in SAD after resigning from the party as MLA on December 26 last year.

He described such a defection as "unique in the state when the ruling alliance have been enjoying comfortable majority to run the affairs of the government."  

"Such a defection is against the principles of democracy," he said.