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Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convenor Arvind Kejriwal will lead a peaceful march to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's residence at 12:00 pm today to protest the "forced imposition" of the E20 petrol policy, the party said in a post on X.
"Today at 12:00 PM, carrying the mandate of lakhs of citizens, Aam Aadmi Party National Convenor @ArvindKejriwal Ji, along with 100 people, will peacefully march to the Prime Minister's residence to submit the signed petitions against the forced imposition of E20 petrol," said the AAP party. Earlier on Monday, Kejriwal conducted a national town hall programme outside the Constitution Club to protest the implementation of the E20 policy in the country. Addressing reporters, the AAP National Convenor questioned the inconsistency of the Union Ministry's statements regarding the petrol-blended ethanol policy, claiming that no significant study has been conducted on the subject. He further declared that the E20 policy is being forcibly implemented on the people. He further questioned the BJP government's interest in implementing the E20 policy, claiming that vehicles are getting damaged and mileage is dropping due to the presence of petrol-blended ethanol in vehicles. "On one side they say E20 is good, on the other side they say E20 is bad. One ministry says there is a difference of 2 per cent to 5 per cent, while another ministry says 4 per cent. They haven't conducted any study; they are just forcing the policy onto the people... Vehicles are getting damaged, and mileage is dropping. Why is the Government forcing this on people? What is the interest of the Government in this? E20 petrol is not good... said Kejriwal. Alongside Kejriwal, AAP leader Saurabh Bhardwaj also opposed the implementation of the E20 policy, emphasising that consumers should be given the choice between pure petrol or ethanol-blended fuel. The march would be the latest escalation in AAP's campaign against the Centre's E20 fuel policy. During the programme, Kejriwal put forward three demands on the issue to the Centre: there should be an option for E20 and pure petrol at petrol pumps, E20 should be cheaper than pure petrol, and the price of petrol should be less than 84 rupees/litre. Earlier, Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas Suresh Gopi said that the Ethanol Blended Petrol (EBP) Programme has been implemented through a phased, scientifically validated and consultative process involving NITI Aayog, automobile manufacturers, Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs), the Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI), the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), the Indian Institute of Petroleum (IIP) and other technical institutions. (ANI)
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