AAP stages big protest against E20 petrol, Kejriwal, Sisodia, Sanjay Singh among hundreds detained
SUNIL NEGI
New Delhi: Hundreds of Aam Aadmi Party activists led by the party’s national convenor and former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal marched towards the Prime Minister’s residence on Tuesday to submit over two lakh public petitions opposing the government’s E20 ethanol-blended petrol policy. Police stopped the march en route and detained Kejriwal along with several senior AAP leaders.
Those detained include former Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh, former Delhi cabinet minister Saurabh Bharadwaj, several AAP MLAs and office bearers. The party said the detentions were aimed at preventing them from handing over the petitions directly to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The protest was organized as part of AAP’s ongoing campaign against E20, which mandates 20% ethanol blending in petrol. Party leaders argue that the policy will increase fuel costs, reduce mileage and cause damage to older vehicles, and that it was rolled out without adequate public consultation.
Carrying boxes of signed petitions, AAP workers raised slogans against the Centre’s decision and demanded that the E20 rollout be rolled back. The march was halted by a heavy police deployment near the PM’s residence. After being stopped, police took the leaders and workers into preventive custody and shifted them to different locations.
Later, Arvind Kejriwal posted on X in Hindi:
“Today, we attempted to meet with Modi with over 200,000 public petitions opposing E20, but Modi’s police stopped us. We have sent all the petitions to Modi.
Modi, what good will it do to show us your strength? Show this same courage to Trump and stop imposing E20 on the country. Otherwise, the country will be forced to launch another massive movement.”
Kejriwal alleged that instead of listening to citizens, the government was using police force to suppress dissent. He said the petitions collected from across the country have now been sent to the Prime Minister’s Office.
AAP leaders said the E20 policy is anti-people and anti-farmer in equal measure. They claimed vehicle owners will face higher maintenance costs and reduced fuel efficiency, while the burden will ultimately fall on common citizens.
The party has announced that it will take the campaign to more states if the government does not reconsider the ethanol blending mandate.
Police said the detentions were made to maintain law and order and that the protesters were released later in the day.
