Lok Sabha elections 2019: Kapil Sibal keen on contesting Lok Sabha elections from Chandni Chowk in Delhi

Sibal had won twice from Chandni Chowk in 2004 and 2009 before losing to BJP leader Harsh Vardhan in 2014. He said the final decision on a seat-sharing arrangement with AAP was for party leadership to take.

Expressing his interest to contest the Lok Sabha elections from Chandni Chowk, senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal said on Friday he had conveyed his desire to Delhi Congress chief Sheila Dikshit.

Sibal, who has held various important portfolios as a Union minister under the UPA government, is a member of the Rajya Sabha from UP. (PTI)

He said would like to be the party’s face from the seat irrespective of whether there was a Congress-Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) alliance. “If the party gives me a ticket, I would certainly contest from Chandni Chowk, irrespective of whether there is an alliance with AAP,” Sibal said.

Sibal had won twice from Chandni Chowk in 2004 and 2009 before losing to BJP leader Harsh Vardhan in 2014. He said the final decision on a seat-sharing arrangement with AAP was for party leadership to take. “There are two views within the party on it and it is for the party leadership to make a final call,” he said.

Sibal, who has held various important portfolios as a Union minister under the UPA government, is a member of the Rajya Sabha from UP. He was elected to the Rajya Sabha in 2016.

Though several Congress leaders earlier said Sibal might not be able to contest from Chandni Chowk due to an internal party notification barring RS members from contesting LS polls, the party recently broke the rule in case of Sanjay Singh, Lok Sabha member from Sultanpur in Uttar Pradesh, who also represents Assam in the Rajya Sabha.

Dikshit on Friday said the screening committee would soon announce its decision.