AAP's nationwide campaign against E20 fuel: Town halls to be held from August 8
The Aam Aadmi Party on Friday announced a nationwide campaign against E20 fuel, saying it will hold town hall meetings across several states from August
The Aam Aadmi Party on Friday announced a nationwide campaign against E20 fuel, saying it will hold town hall meetings across several states from August 8. The first event will be held in West Bengal, with more meetings scheduled through August 17. Addressing a press conference, AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh said party chief Arvind Kejriwal has asked him and Delhi unit president Saurabh Bharadwaj to organise the town halls. He said the campaign would focus on the party's concerns over E20 fuel and would seek to raise public awareness on the issue. Read Full Story Singh said the campaign will begin in West Bengal on August 8, followed by Gujarat and Haryana on August 9, Telangana on August 11, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh on August 14, Kerala on August 15, Tamil Nadu, Bihar and Odisha on August 16, and Himachal Pradesh and Chhattisgarh on August 17.
He claimed that nearly 30 crore vehicles in the country were not designed to run on the E20 fuel blend. During the press conference, Singh also alleged that the Centre was importing ethanol from the US and repeated the party's demand for a review of the E20 fuel policy. On July 30, Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari told Parliament that petrol blended with 20 per cent ethanol, or E20, can reduce fuel economy by 2 to 6 per cent depending on the vehicle category and vintage. However, he said engine durability tests on a dynamometer as well as on-road vehicles had not shown any failures due to E20 fuel.
Referring to an earlier town hall organised by Kejriwal at the Constitution Club in Delhi, Singh claimed that more than seven lakh people had joined the event online and that around 2.33 lakh representations were later sent to the prime minister. AAP chief Kejriwal has opposed the E20 fuel programme, alleging that it is being imposed on people and affects vehicle performance. On Tuesday, Kejriwal marched towards the Prime Minister's residence with over 2.30 lakh petitions against E20 petrol, but was stopped by Delhi Police. He and other party leaders then staged a sit-in on Firoz Shah Road and called for an intensified agitation against the blended fuel policy.
With the town hall campaign now set to begin, AAP has said it will take its opposition to E20 fuel to states across the country. Ends
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