Four Punjab AAP leaders quit party to join Congress
Four members of Punjab's Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), including the founder member Colonel CM Lakhanpal, quit the party on Sunday to join Congress. AAP has started bringing in people with not so clean background and is compromising on principles, Lakhanpal alleged. Punjab Congress President Captain Amarinder Singh claimed that people are leaving AAP because the party lacks principle. 
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) received a jolt today when four of its members including Colonel CM Lakhanpal, the founder member and state vice-president of AAP Punjab, quit party to join the Congress.Lakhanpal who has been responsible for holding all major functions of the party in Punjab, quit just ahead of big ticket assembly polls.Lakhanpal joined Captain Amarinder Singh in bringing in 50,000 people from states like Uttar Pradesh and Bihar for campaigning. "AAP has dwindling fortunes, people are leaving their party as they lack principle," Amarinder Singh said while speaking to the media.Amarinder Singh also claimed that while new entrants were joining the Congress party, people were leaving rival AAP. The newbies would be put up as candidates only where the Congress did not have a good candidates.Also read:AAP MP Bhagwant Mann, found guilty, suspended from remaining Winter Session of Parliament AAP's loss is Congress' gain. Besides Colonel CM Lakhanpal, PK Sharma, Colonel Iqbal Pannu and Barpur, leaders who have played an significant role in the organisational matters of AAP have also quit the party to join the Congress."AAP WAS ONCE A PRINCIPLE-BASED PARTY"Lakhanpal told India Today that "AAP was once a principle-based party but had compromised on those and had started bringing in people with not so clean background as candidates." Citing example of the Bains brothers, saying it was no longer possible to continue with AAP, given its current state. The party that once had corruption as its main plank now had more than 60 of the party candidates with not so clean background.OTHERS WHO HAVE JOINED CONGRESSGroup coordinator, PK Sharma (grandson of Pt Ramgopal Sharma), District Congress President, Sangrur. He left Canada to join AAP during the Anna Hazare movement but soon got disillusioned with the deep-rooted malaise in the party and decided to join the Congress.Also read:AAP has lost moral rights to contest Punjab polls: Amarinder Another important new person to join Congress is founder member Colonel Iqbal Pannu, senior vice-president of trade and transport, as well as the industrial wing of AAP.