Sibal to contest from Chandni Chowk even if Kejriwal in fray

Amid speculation that Aam Aadmi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal could contest against him from his Chandni Chowk constituency, Union Minister Kapil Sibal today made it clear that he will contest from the constituency.

"I am going to contest Lok Sabha election from Chandni Chowk, let anybody be in the fray," he told media persons on the sidelines of an event.

Sibal, a staunch critic of the Delhi chief minister, however, said he was not averse to subsidies like those effected in the national capital by the AAP government with regard to power and water tariff.

"See the point is we are in the election mode... and naturally we all look at the aam aadmi." he said.

"As a govt, we have been doing this all along for the last 10 years for the common man. I think that though any subsidy which has a very negative long term implication for the economy is not something which is welcome but, at the same time, we must realise that there are certain sections of our country who need subsidies and therefore those issues need to be addressed," Sibal said.

The minister said 800 million people in India do not have a very prosperous existence and the government must think of them.

"Therefore, in that context where subsidy is necessary it should be given and where subsidy has long term negative implications on the economy then we should think before giving," he said.

He was asked whether such subsidies would not put further pressure on the fiscal deficit, making the target difficult to achieve.

Taking a jibe at AAP and BJP, Sibal said the Opposition has provided two alternatives --one who wants to run the country from streets and the other who does not have any ideology.