The political opposition to E20 blended petrol is on the rise and Aam Aadmi Party national convenor Arvind Kejriwal announced a protest march to the Prime Minister’s residence on a Tuesday. The demonstration is organised to submit a huge public petition against the continued deployment of ethanol-blended fuel as critics say the same can cause mechanical damage to vehicles and lower fuel efficiency for a lot of them in India.
At a press conference where Kejriwal also said he will leave from the AAP headquarters at midday with a delegation of supporters to hand over the petition signed by nearly 2.5 lakh people. The opposition has raised significant concerns regarding the transparency of the policy, saying the central government is moving forward with the fuel initiative and not giving enough explanation or justification for the fuel initiative, causing the public to be suspicious about the implementation of the fuel policy, according to opposition.
Public Backlash and Campaign Momentum. AAP leadership pointed to the recent 'National Town Hall Against E20' on Saturday as a demonstration of the growing momentum. Party figures say the event drew huge numbers of people and massive online viewing, reflecting widespread public anxiety about the performance of vehicles with the blended fuel. Kejriwal says citizens and content creators who speak up online have been harassed and threatened with legal action, creating an environment of fear for consumers with vehicular problems.
The petition campaign, launched online a few days earlier, quickly received more than 230,000 signatures from people demanding a review of the fuel mandates. Though they had written to the Prime Minister a month earlier to request a formal appointment and it was never made, AAP leadership has said they were still going to give the grievances to the party directly. In a march, the AAP will be calling for the government to address the concerns of the public, especially on engine wear and fuel economy standards in the transition to E20 petrol.
