Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convenor Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday accused the Centre of preventing him from meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi after Delhi Police stopped his planned march to the Prime Minister’s residence to submit over two lakh petitions against E20 petrol.
In a post on X after the march was halted, Kejriwal said, “Today, we tried to meet Modi ji by collecting more than 2 lakh petitions from the public against E20, but Modi ji’s police stopped us. We have sent all the petitions to Modi ji.”
He further targeted the Prime Minister, saying, “Modi ji, what will it achieve by showing us your power? Show this courage to Trump instead and stop imposing E20 on the country. Otherwise, the country will be forced to launch another major movement.”
Delhi Police Stop March To PM’s Residence
Earlier in the day, Delhi Police stopped Kejriwal and around 100 people as they attempted to march to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s residence to submit lakhs of petitions against E20 petrol.
A police source said that no permission had been granted for the march.
When stopped by police, Kejriwal said, “We are not terrorists, we want to meet PM Modi over the E20 fuel issue, kindly inform him that we want to meet.”
AAP Says It Wanted Dialogue On Ethanol
AAP Delhi chief Saurabh Bhardwaj said the party had arrived with “lakhs of petitions” and wanted a discussion with the Prime Minister on ethanol.
“We have spoken to the police officers about the fact that people have come here with lakhs of petitions… We want to give the petition to the Prime Minister and want him to hold a discussion on ethanol. There should be a dialogue. Arvind Kejriwal has written a letter. We have repeatedly told the Prime Minister in press conferences,” Bhardwaj said.
Kejriwal Had Announced March A Day Earlier
On Monday, Kejriwal had announced that he would march to the Prime Minister’s residence with 100 people to personally hand over petitions signed by the public and seek a discussion on ethanol-blended petrol.
“I will go to the PM’s residence tomorrow along with 100 people to personally hand over the petitions signed by the public and discuss issues related to ethanol-blended petrol. People are facing several problems in their vehicles and despite all that the government is continuing with this, which means there is a hidden agenda,” he had said at a press conference.
आज हमने E20 के विरोध में जनता की 2 लाख से अधिक petitions लेकर मोदी जी से मिलने की कोशिश की, लेकिन मोदी जी की पुलिस ने हमें रोक दिया। हमने सभी petitions मोदी जी को भेज दी हैं।
मोदी जी, हमें अपनी ताकत दिखाने से क्या होगा? आप यही हिम्मत ट्रंप को दिखाइए और देश पर E20 थोपना बंद करिए।… pic.twitter.com/7rRUvLDgND
— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) August 4, 2026
The former Delhi Chief Minister said he decided to personally submit the petitions after receiving no response to a letter he had sent to the Prime Minister last month seeking an appointment to discuss concerns over E20 petrol.
In the letter, Kejriwal sought the availability of both pure petrol and E20 fuel at petrol stations and also demanded a reduction in the price of ethanol-blended petrol.
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“We did not get any response on the letter, so now we will personally hand over the petition to PM Modi. We had launched a petition campaign against ethanol-blended petrol. More than 2 lakh people have signed this petition,” he had said.
E20 से परेशान करोड़ों लोगों की 2 लाख 33 हज़ार से ज़्यादा Signed Petition की Copies लेकर अरविंद केजरीवाल जी का प्रधानमंत्री आवास की ओर शांतिपूर्ण मार्च#MarchAgainstForcedE20 pic.twitter.com/of1EvQhOcU
— AAP (@AamAadmiParty) August 4, 2026
Kejriwal also claimed that the “Ethanol Townhall” organised by the AAP last week was a “huge success”, with a large number of people joining the meeting virtually.
BJP Calls Campaign ‘Meaningless’
BJP MP Tarun Chugh dismissed Kejriwal’s campaign, calling it “absurd” and “meaningless”.
“It is an absurd, meaningless campaign of his; there is no logic, no information. Everything has been done in a scientific manner. His behavior is against India’s farmers. Ethanol means protection for farmers,” Chugh said.
Delhi BJP president Harsh Malhotra also criticised Kejriwal, alleging that the proposed march was part of a competition with the Congress over who could emerge as the country’s “Number 1 anarchist”.
According to Malhotra, after the Congress protested outside the Prime Minister’s residence, Kejriwal appeared to be lagging behind in “politics of disruption” and announced a similar march without obtaining permission.
“Tomorrow, when the police prevent him from entering the Prime Minister’s residence without permission, Kejriwal will once again play the victim card and claim that the government refused even to hold talks with him,” Malhotra said.
Similar Protest Last Month
Last month, Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi led a march to the Prime Minister’s residence over the police crackdown on students protesting for reforms in the education system. He was forcibly removed from the spot and briefly detained.
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