E20 will hurt India's economy: Arvind Kejriwal intensifies attack on govt
AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday stepped up his attack on the Centre’s E20 petrol policy, warning that it could hurt the economy if
AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday stepped up his attack on the Centre’s E20 petrol policy, warning that it could hurt the economy if concerns among car buyers continued to grow. Responding to a post on X claiming that inventories of petrol cars were piling up at dealerships as buyers shifted towards CNG and electric vehicles over concerns around E20 petrol, Kejriwal said people had “stopped buying petrol cars” and urged the government to reverse its ethanol policy. Read Full Story “People have stopped buying petrol cars. Govt should reverse its ethanol policy. Else it will hurt economy very badly,” Kejriwal wrote. His remarks came days after AAP intensified its campaign against E20 petrol, with Kejriwal leading a march towards the Prime Minister’s residence on Tuesday carrying 2.38 lakh petitions collected from across the country.
The delegation was stopped by Delhi Police near Firoz Shah Road, following which Kejriwal and other AAP leaders staged a sit-in on the road. Police later took possession of the petitions after the delegation was informed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi would not meet them. Kejriwal subsequently said the petitions had been sent to the Prime Minister’s Office. ‘GIVE CONSUMERS A CHOICE’ Kejriwal had said AAP sought an appointment with the Prime Minister around a month earlier but received no response. He reiterated the party’s demand that fuel stations offer consumers a choice between pure petrol and E20 instead of making ethanol-blended petrol effectively mandatory. “If E20 is to be, then sell it at a lower price,” Kejriwal said.
Addressing supporters before Tuesday’s march, he had said more than 2.30 lakh people had signed petitions raising concerns over E20 petrol. “We want the government to listen to the concerns of crores of vehicle owners who are facing problems because of E20 petrol,” he said. The protest followed AAP’s “Ethanol Town Hall” and nationwide signature campaign against the blended fuel policy. AAP TO TAKE E20 ROW TO ASSEMBLIES Kejriwal had also said the party would take the issue to state legislatures. “Punjab Assembly has passed the resolution against E20 petrol. Our MLAs in Goa, Gujarat and J&K will move the same resolution,” he said. AAP said its legislators in Gujarat, Goa and Jammu and Kashmir would seek the withdrawal of the E20 policy, following the resolution already passed by the Punjab Assembly.
The party has maintained that consumers should be allowed to choose between pure petrol and E20 and has called for a review of the Centre’s ethanol-blending policy. Kejriwal had also warned that if the government failed to address concerns over E20 petrol, AAP could intensify its campaign and launch a larger public movement. Ends
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