Kejriwal to march to PM residence over E20 petrol, alleges India 'yielded' to Trump

AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal said on Monday, August 3, that he would march to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's residence on Tuesday, August 4, along with 100 people to submit petitions against E20 petrol, alleging that the Union Government was pushing the blended fuel under pressure from US President Donald Trump.

Kejriwal alleged that India "yielded" to Trump to buy ethanol from the United States and said the government's continued push for ethanol-blended petrol suggested there was a "hidden agenda".

"I will go to the PM's residence tomorrow along with 100 people to personally hand over the petitions signed by the public and discuss issues related to ethanol-blended petrol. People are facing several problems in their vehicles and despite all that the government is continuing with this, which means there is a hidden agenda," Kejriwal said at a press conference.

Both Opposition parties and consumer advocates point out that the E20 fuel causes a 3 to 7% drop in fuel economy. It can possibly accelerate the corrosion of fuel tanks, rubber seals, and engine components in non-E20 compliant pre-2023 vehicles.

An official report from the government, "The Roadmap for Ethanol Blending in India 2025," published in June 2021 by the NITI Aayog and the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, acknowledged that using E20 petrol reduces mileage due to ethanol's lower energy density compared to pure petrol.

The 2021 Niti-Ayog report had outlined that the estimated drop in efficiency could range between a 6% and 7% drop for existing four-wheelers designed for pure petrol and calibrated for E10. The report also mentioned a 1% to 2% drop for four-wheelers designed and tuned specifically for E20. The drop in efficiency was also later reaffirmed this year in the parliament by the Union Minister Nitin Gadkari.

Meanwhile, Delhi BJP president Harsh Malhotra said that Kejriwal's announcement to march to the Prime Minister's residence is part of the ongoing competition between him and the Congress over who can emerge as the country's Number 1 anarchist.

He said that ever since the Congress staged a protest at the Prime Minister's residence, Kejriwal appeared to be falling behind in this politics of disruption. To make up for it, Kejriwal announced that he would march to the Prime Minister's residence over the ethanol issue without obtaining permission, Malhotra said.

Malhotra said that creating disorder first and then playing the victim card has long been Kejriwal's political style.

"Tomorrow, when the police prevent him from entering the Prime Minister’s residence without permission, Kejriwal will once again play the victim card and claim that the government refused even to hold talks with him," Malhotra said.

Kejriwal said he would personally hand over the petitions to Modi after receiving no response to a letter he sent to the prime minister last month seeking an appointment to discuss concerns over E20 petrol.

In his letter, Kejriwal had sought the availability of options for both pure petrol and E20 fuel at petrol stations, besides demanding a reduction in the price of ethanol-blended petrol.

"We did not get any response on the letter, so now we will personally hand over the petition to PM Modi. We had launched a petition campaign against ethanol-blended petrol. More than 2 lakh people have signed this petition," he said.

Kejriwal also said the "Ethanol Townhall" organised by the AAP last week was a "huge success", with a large number of people joining the meeting virtually.