More than 20 AAP leaders and office-bearers from Northeast Delhi joined the Congress on Friday, with more expected to follow suit in the coming days. More than 20 people, including former Delhi Congress secretaries Kuldeep Bhati and Yogendra Bhati and block ex-president Mahendra Kumar, joined the party from the AAP, the Delhi Congress said in a statement.

Arvinder Singh Lovely, the Congress’ Delhi unit chief, had earlier exhorted leaders and workers who left the party to return to its fold.  Speaking about the returning functionaries, a senior Congress leader said more are expected to join in the coming days.

Asked if the move will affect the equation of the opposition INDIA bloc, the senior leader told PTI that the Congress will carry out work to strengthen itself in the national capital. “The decision on the alliance will be taken by the party’s high command and we will be abide by it.

As a political party, we are supposed to take measures to strengthen and revamp ourselves and we will continue to do that,” the senior party member said.

Lovely alleged that both the BJP and the AAP have “halted the development work” in the national capital.

“Due to the fight between the BJP and the AAP, many major development projects have been put on the backburner. The BJP’s agenda is to create hatred and animosity in society,” he said.

“The AAP, on the other hand, is running away from its own responsibility by blaming the BJP for halting all development works,” Lovely alleged.