Kejriwal will take on Modi in Varanasi: Manish Sisodia

There is intense speculation that the Bharatiya Janata Party will field the Gujarat chief minister in the temple town of Varanasi in a bid to generate a pro-BJP wave in Uttar Pradesh.

Pressed to confirm that Kejriwal, 45, will be a candidate in the general election, Sisodia replied: "Personally, I feel he (Kejriwal) should contest."

The AAP, formed in November 2012, has announced 187 candidates for the Lok Sabha battle thus far. It includes a mix of the known and the unknown.

Sisodia said the AAP hoped to do well in Karnataka because people there "are as much fed up with the BJP as the Congress".

One of the oldest associates of Kejriwal, Sisodia said he and his colleagues were surprised that social activist Anna Hazare had come out in support of the Trinamool Congress and its leader Mamata Banerjee.