Pralhad Joshi accuses Cong of 'appeasement politics' over ethanol blending issue

    Bengaluru, Nov 10 (PTI) Union Minister Pralhad Joshi on Tuesday accused the Congress of raising the issue of higher ethanol blending in petrol to "appease" party leader Rahul Gandhi.

    Alleging flaws in the state's testing, he said the Congress government was making baseless claims despite the Centre having already provided clarifications on the issue.

    "If the Congress is raising this issue to appease Gandhi, it is engaging in a different kind of appeasement. On one hand, they practise appeasement politics towards minorities, particularly Muslims, and on the other, they appease Gandhi. They come out in his support and say anything. The public understands this," he told reporters here.

    Explaining the economics behind ethanol blending, the union minister said the move was aimed at benefiting farmers and reducing India's dependence on imported crude oil.

    "Crude oil is very expensive today. The base price of our petrol is Rs 53, while the cost of ethanol is between Rs 57 and Rs 71 if we use maize-based ethanol. There is no commercial logic in it either," he said.

    The government had promoted ethanol blending for the benefit of farmers and to make the country self-reliant, he added.

    Joshi also questioned the Congress over its protests on the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and other issues, alleging that the party was raising the ethanol issue after failing to get public support on those matters.

    On the procedure for testing fuel, Joshi said specialised equipment and designated laboratories were required to examine petrol and diesel, just as sophisticated equipment was needed to test cancer markers.

    "If you want to check blood sugar levels, an ordinary laboratory is sufficient. But if you want to test cancer markers or determine cancer levels, you need sophisticated equipment. Similarly, testing petrol and diesel requires specialised equipment," he said.

    He said the system of designated laboratories and specialised testing equipment was introduced during the UPA government's tenure in 2005 under the Petroleum and Diesel Order.

    "According to one of its clauses, the testing has to be conducted in the designated laboratory," he said, adding that the Congress should not shift the responsibility onto him.

    Joshi said the state should examine the test results already given by the Centre and make public the remaining details.

    "We will send an officer if they want to debate. An officer from the OMC (Oil Marketing Company) will come. Let Rizwan Arshad (Karnataka Minister) sit with our officers and their officers as well. Let them sit together and let Rizwan Arshad be the judge," he said.

    He said he did not wish to respond further to the allegations as sufficient clarification had already been provided.

    Meanwhile, Arshad hit back at Union Minister Joshi, saying that although he was not in charge of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Ministry, which handles the issue, he had responded on behalf of Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri.

    Joshi is Union Minister of Education, Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution & New and Renewable Energy.

    Arshad, who holds Food, Civil Supplies, Consumer Affairs and Legal Metrology portfolios, also took a dig at Joshi, sarcastically suggesting that he could take over the Petroleum and Natural Gas portfolio following Puri's resignation.

    "Why is the Union Government attempting to turn a public interest issue into a farmer-versus-people debate? Karnataka is not against ethanol blending. Karnataka is against people being cheated," he said, adding that the state recognises the benefits of ethanol blending for sugar factories.

    However, he claimed that when petrol containing 26-31 per cent ethanol is sold as E20, common people deserve an explanation, not political accusations.

    "You cite 893 compliant samples nationwide, including 56 in Karnataka. But these were tested and certified by the OMCs in their in-house laboratories. When oil companies test their own products and certify their own compliance, where is the independent accountability? They are acting as both the accused and the judge," Arshad alleged, in a statement posted on 'X'.

    The minister noted that when Karnataka initially submitted 63 samples to the OMCs in-house laboratories, not one report disclosed the actual ethanol percentage.

    "If the Union Government disputes these findings, the answer is to set up a transparent, independent verification framework, not simply dismissing the results as sensationalism," he said.

    He also questioned the Centre's ethanol blending policy, seeking an explanation for the higher blending levels despite ethanol being more expensive than petrol, and demanded independent fuel testing, disclosure of actual ethanol content at petrol pumps and a choice for consumers between E10, E20 and pure petrol.

    "Joshi, calling us fools and resorting to personal attacks will not help dodge these questions. We are not fools, and neither are the people of India. Personal attacks cannot substitute for scientific evidence or answers to the legitimate concerns of ordinary citizens," Arshad said.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)