Chandigarh, Apr 25 (IANS): Ahead of the Lok Sabha elections in Punjab, the Congress got a major boost in the Bathinda parliamentary constituency with Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) legislator Nazar Singh Manshahia joining the party, here on Thursday.

Manshahia joined the Congress in the presence of Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh and said the AAP had lost the narrative in Punjab, with no positive agenda or ideology to guide it. Manshahia's joining would further strengthen the Congress, said Amarinder Singh.

Manshahia's exit is a major setback for the AAP, which is grappling with a large number of senior party leaders and workers leaving the party.

According to Congress sources, Manshahia will quit his Assembly seat soon and contest on a Congress ticket.

"Like-minded people from other parties with the interest of Punjab in their hearts are joining the Congress in large numbers. It's a clear sign of disillusionment within the AAP, which has lost its locus standi amid big rebellion in the party," Amarinder Singh said.

Manshahia had taken premature retirement from the Punjab Pollution Control Board in 2015 to join the AAP. The 56-year engineering graduate from Guru Nanak Dev Engineering College had won the 2017 Assembly elections from the Mansa seat.