NEW DELHI: The political battle over ethanol-blended fuel intensified on Thursday as Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convenor Arvind Kejriwal and BJP IT department head Amit Malviya locked horns on X over the Centre’s ethanol policy.While Kejriwal alleged the government was preparing to expand ethanol blending to diesel, aviation turbine fuel (ATF) and eventually petrol beyond E20, the BJP dismissed the claims as “fake news” and “fear politics”, asserting that no decision has been taken beyond the existing E20 programme.The exchange comes days after the AAP launched a campaign against E20 fuel, alleging it damages vehicles and collecting petitions seeking its withdrawal.Kejriwal alleged that the Centre would soon introduce ethanol blending in diesel and urged people to avoid buying new petrol and diesel vehicles for the time being.In another post on X, he claimed, citing sources, that the Modi government was also planning to blend ethanol with aviation turbine fuel (ATF).In a separate post in Hindi, Kejriwal alleged that after introducing E20 fuel, the government planned to increase ethanol blending in petrol beyond 50%.“It seems they are going to adulterate petrol with more than 50 per cent. 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.Responding to BJP IT department head Amit Malviya, the former Delhi chief minister alleged that the government was waiting for the controversy around E20 to subside before expanding ethanol blending further.“Just like E20 was implemented without any scientific study, without listening to anyone, by silencing everyone through threats, you’ll implement E50 in the same way,” Kejriwal said, alleging this was the government’s “style of functioning” without respecting science, engineering and technology.He also challenged Malviya to publicly release any scientific study conducted before the rollout of E20 petrol.Hitting back, Malviya accused Kejriwal of spreading misinformation and creating unnecessary panic.“First, the government has clearly stated that no decision has been taken to increase ethanol blending beyond E20. Raising a debate on some imaginary E50 is nothing but politics of spreading fear,” Malviya said.Rejecting Kejriwal’s charge that E20 was introduced without adequate research, Malviya said the country’s ethanol blending programme had evolved gradually over more than two decades.He said E20 was not a hurried decision and that extensive testing and consultations with stakeholders were carried out before its implementation.The latest exchange comes amid AAP’s sustained campaign against E20 petrol. The party has alleged that ethanol-blended fuel is harming vehicles and imposing additional costs on consumers. On August 4, Delhi Police stopped Kejriwal and other AAP leaders from marching to the Prime Minister’s residence with around 2.30 lakh petitions against E20 petrol, following which they staged a protest on Firoz Shah Road.(With PTI inputs)
