The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)’s National Town Hall Against E20, held at Delhi’s Constitution Club on Saturday, drew overwhelming participation from across the country, with more than 7 lakh people joining online and offline. During the programme, AAP National Convenor Arvind Kejriwal placed three demands before the Modi Government on behalf of the people of the country: provide the option of both pure petrol and E20 at petrol pumps, make E20 cheaper than pure petrol, and reduce the price of petrol to below ₹84 per litre.
The AAP Chief revealed that PM Modi is forcibly imposing ethanol on the people of India to please Donald Trump. Sharing that India imported 1 billion litres of ethanol from the United States last year and would import 5 times more this year after the implementation of E20, he urged people to stop buying petrol and diesel vehicles. He appealed to people not to purchase any vehicle until E100 compatible vehicles begin to be manufactured in the country, warning that the government’s policy would ruin consumers.
Addressing the packed hall, AAP National Convenor Arvind Kejriwal said, “People are not merely watching today’s programme. They are deeply troubled by this issue. The E20 blended petrol, this adulterated petrol that PM Modi has imposed on the country, has caused so much distress to the people that over 7 lakh people joined us live online to express their support against it. Today we heard many people speak about the problems they’re facing. For every person who spoke, at least 100 times more people wanted to speak. I request all of you to make videos and post them on social media. Tag me and send me collaboration requests. I will share everyone’s videos from my own account.”
He continued, “I am certain that the government is also watching this programme today. Whenever their ministers appear, they say E20 is safe, that there is no problem with E20, and that anyone raising their voice against E20 is anti national. Today people placed so many testimonies before everyone. We presented so much evidence. An organisation called LocalCircles conducted a survey of 45,000 vehicle users across the country. It found that the mileage of 67% of people had reduced and the engines of 45% had been damaged. Are all the people who shared their suffering today lying? Is all of this false? Yet their ministers keep saying E20 is fine.”
Sharing the response from manufacturers, he added, “None of the companies replied to my letter. However, I personally had detailed conversations with officials from 9 companies. They told me that vehicles manufactured before 2023 were E10 vehicles and E20 could not be used in them. They said the government had forced this upon them. If E20 is used, the vehicle will be damaged and mileage will decline. I asked them to put this in writing.”