India
oi-Gaurav Sharma
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief Arvind Kejriwal on Monday said that he will take out a march to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s residence on Tuesday to protest against the Centre’s decision to launch E20 ethanol-blended petrol which people across the country are complaining has been causing them trouble.
Kejriwal said that he will be accompanied by 100 people and that he will deliver a petition signed by more than two lakh people asking the Prime Minister to rescind his government’s decision to usher in the E20 petrol.
Arvind Kejriwal plans a march to PM Modi’s residence on Tuesday with over two lakh signatures petitioning against the E20 ethanol-blended petrol, citing consumer complaints and vehicle compatibility issues.
Speaking to reporters, the former Delhi Chief Minister said that he was questioning why the Union government was insisting on pushing the E20 petrol when consumers were complaining about it, saying that there must be ‘hidden agenda’.
He accused the Narendra Modi government of buying ethanol blended petrol from the US on the advice of US President Donald Trump, even though he did not give any proof of his allegation.
“Many people are saying that PM Modi is being pushed by Trump to buy ethanol from the US,” he said.
Kejriwal added that several car owners had complained that they were facing problems due to E20 petrol, with many of them not having cars that could run on petrol mixed with 20 per cent ethanol.
He said that he had earlier written to PM Modi on the issue and sought a personal audience with him, but that he had got no reply.
In the letter, he had asked the Petroleum Ministry to make both regular petrol and E20 petrol available at petrol pumps so that car owners could decide which one to buy based on the cars’ requirement.
He also asked that if the Narendra Modi government wanted to continue with the E20 policy, it should bring down its price.
“We did not get any reply to the letter. Hence, we decided to deliver the petition signed by more than two lakh people ourselves to the Prime Minister,” he said.
The AAP leader said that more than two lakh people had signed the petition against E20 petrol which will be delivered to the Prime Minister on Tuesday.
The Union government has been promoting ethanol-blended petrol as part of its push for clean energy and alternative fuel. However, the decision to introduce E20 petrol, which contains 20 per cent ethanol and 80 per cent petrol, has been opposed by several political parties and consumer groups. They said that many old cars cannot run on petrol blended with ethanol and accused the government of trying to force car owners to buy new cars that can run on E20 petrol. Besides, the ethanol-blended petrol is considered harmful to health too. Meanwhile, several car owners have complained that their cars’ engine had caught fire after using E20 petrol.
