Haryana polls: Setback to AAP after its Nilokheri candidate joins Congress

In a setback to AAP ahead of Saturday's Haryana Assembly polls, the party's Nilokheri (reserve) seat candidate Amar Singh joined the Congress on Wednesday.

After joining the party, Singh said only Congress can defeat the BJP government which has been "unjust to farmers, women, Dalits, and minorities".

He joined the Congress here in presence of Pratap Singh Bajwa, Leader of Opposition in the Punjab Assembly, the party said in a statement.

Bajwa formally inducted Singh into the party, it added.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is part of the INDIA bloc, but is contesting the Haryana elections on its own after the talks between the Arvind Kejriwal outfit and Congress last month to forge an alliance for the state polls did not materialise.

The fresh setback to the AAP in Haryana comes days after its Faridabad candidate Pravesh Mehta joined the ruling BJP on September 28.

Mehta had joined the BJP in Faridabad in the presence of Union Minister Krishan Pal Gurjar, who is the BJP MP from Farida