‘If we start doing it…’: Kejriwal claims many Punjab Congress MLAs, MPs in touch with AAP

The Delhi CM, however, asserted that these leaders will not be taken in by his Aam Aadmi Party.

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal insisted on Tuesday that several MLAs and MPs from Punjab's ruling Congress are in touch with his Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) but will not be inducted, as he campaigned in Amritsar for the upcoming assembly elections in the state, which are likely to take place early next year.

Arvind Kejriwal (ANI)

“Many people in the Congress are in touch with us, but we don't want to take their garbage. If we start doing it, then I challenge you that 25 Congress MLAs would join us by evening. Their 25 MLAs and two-three MPs are in touch and want to join us,” Kejriwal said, according to news agency ANI.

The Delhi CM, whose AAP is the principal opposition party in Punjab despite only being formed in 2012, has been campaigning aggressively in the border state. He has also made frequent visits to two other poll-bound states--Uttarakhand and Goa--both of which will vote around the same time as Punjab.

However, it is the northern state where Kejriwal has campaigned most actively, announcing a host of schemes to attract the voters. On Monday, he said that if voted to power, the Aam Aadmi Party would pay ₹1000 per month to every adult woman in the state. Then, on Tuesday, on the second and final day of his current visit, he announced eight guarantees for the teachers of the sta.

Kejriwal has also targeted his Punjab counterpart Charanjit Singh Channi, describing the latter as ‘fake Kejriwal’ for allegedly making the same promises as being made by the AAP in the state.