Protesting against ethanol-blended E20 petrol, Congress youth wing members staged a demonstration on Monday by laying siege to the residence of Union Minister Nitin Gadkari in Nagpur, Maharashtra.
Police personnel, who had set up barricades around the area where the minister’s residence is located, arrested those who tried to breach them and enter inside.
Allegations have continued to surface that E20 petrol damages vehicle parts and reduces mileage. Initially, Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari had dismissed this as an unproven allegation.
In this situation, in his explanation on this in Parliament last week, he also said that “with E20 petrol, vehicle mileage (distance traveled) may decrease by 2 percent to 6 percent, and in some slightly older (BS 3) vehicles, certain rubber parts and other components may get damaged, leading to the need to replace them.”
In this context, the Congress youth wing staged a protest against Nitin Gadkari on Monday, raising this issue. They marched to lay siege to Gadkari’s residence in Nagpur. At that time, they raised slogans opposing the minister and E20 petrol.
Earlier, the police blocked the roads leading to Gadkari’s house with iron barricades. A large number of police personnel were deployed in the area. Some Congress workers tried to cross the barricades. The police chased them down and arrested them. This caused a major commotion in the area.
In this regard, Maharashtra Congress leader Harshvardhan Sapkal told reporters, “E20 petrol is a huge scam. It was planned to be implemented in 2030, but has now been rushed through for the benefit of a few. As a result, ordinary people are facing major problems with their two-wheelers. Moreover, selling ethanol-blended petrol at a higher price instead of a lower one is another scam. For this, Prime Minister Modi should apologize to the people of the country. Minister Nitin Gadkari should resign,” he said.
