Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convenor Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday alleged that the Centre was planning to introduce ethanol blending in diesel and aviation turbine fuel (ATF), and urged people to avoid buying new vehicles for the next few years.
The former Delhi chief minister also claimed that the government was planning to increase ethanol blending in petrol beyond 50 per cent after introducing E20 fuel.
"It seems they are going to adulterate petrol with more than 50 per cent ethanol. They are just waiting for the atmosphere to calm down. First, they forced E20 petrol into your E0 and E10 vehicles and wrecked them. Today, if you buy a new E20 vehicle, the government will force E50 petrol into it after a few days and damage it," Kejriwal said.
He further alleged that the government would soon introduce ethanol blending in diesel as well and urged people to refrain from purchasing new petrol and diesel vehicles for the time being.
In a separate post, the AAP leader alleged that the Modi government planned to blend ethanol with aviation turbine fuel (ATF) and claimed that doing so could seriously compromise flight safety.
On Tuesday, Kejriwal led a march to the Prime Minister's residence with over 2.30 lakh petitions opposing E20 petrol but was stopped by the Delhi Police. Following this, he and other party leaders staged a sit-in on Firoz Shah Road.
At a press conference later, he said the party had sought an appointment with the prime minister a month earlier but had received no response, adding that the refusal to meet the delegation reflected a "dictatorial attitude."
The AAP has been demanding that consumers be given the option to choose between pure petrol and E20 at fuel stations, and that E20 be sold at a lower price if the government intends to promote it.
