Rahul Gandhi Joins War Against E20 Petrol
After months of lull, Leader of Opposition (LoP) and Congress MP Rahul Gandhi finally joined the war against E20 Petrol, announcing to take the matter on a massive scale in the upcoming days.
New Delhi: After months of lull, Leader of Opposition (LoP) and Congress MP Rahul Gandhi finally joined the war against E20 Petrol, announcing to take the matter on a massive scale in the upcoming days.
The unrest and protest against E20 Petrol were in the headlines since the last the couple of months. The most prominent face who led the protests against the E20 Petrol was the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Chief and Former Delhi CM, Arvind Kerjiwal.
The peak of Kejriwal led protest against E20 Petrol was on August 04, 2026 when he marched to PM House with more than 200,000 petitions against the E20 Petrol.
Kejwrial’s protest, however, failed to move the Narenrda Modi Government. Kejriwal also failed to expand its protest against E20 Petrol and convince the masses to join it. Sensing poor response, Kejrwial appeared to have given up.
It is exactly at this time, Rahul Gandhi threw his hat into the war against E20 Petrol and announced to take the matter on a large scale.
“A Very Serious Issue”
In a video message posted on his official X handle, Rahul Gandhi, said mixing of petrol with E20 is not a small issue and the Congress Party is planning a large scale protest on “this serious matter”.
“E20 - Not just a black spot in the lentils, the whole lentil is black”, Rahul Gandhi captioned his X video.
“The matter of E20 is a big issue. Normally we say … Daal me kuch kaala hai… but here puri ki puri daal hi kaali hai... Not just a black spot in the lentils, the whole lentil is black”, he said in the accompanying video.
Watch Video
E20 - दाल में काला नहीं, पूरी दाल ही काली है। pic.twitter.com/Unw7UfNt9k
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) August 7, 2026
In his video, Rahul also explained why it took such a long time for him to take note of the matter.
“Brothers and sisters… This is a matter of sequencing… In any campaign, we have to decide the sequence of different matters.. Our problem right now is that there is so much corruption… a huge list of what we have to sequence...
"We know this issue and we are going to take it up in a massive way because E20 Petrol is destroying people’s cars and scooters, and literally it is stealing directly from you”, he said.
Why protest against E20 Petrol?
According to news agency Reuters, India made E20 Petrol - 20% ethanol and 80% petrol, a standard and effectively mandatory fuel at nearly all petrol pumps across India by the end of 2025 / around April 2025 — five years ahead of the original 2030 target under the National Policy on Biofuels.
Public backlash grew after the nationwide switch, with complaints peaking again in mid-2026. Key concerns included Lower fuel efficiency (mileage drop), Compatibility with older vehicles, Limited or no choice, and quality and contamination worries.
On the other hand, the Narendra Modi government and major carmakers, including Maruti Suzuki, Toyota, Hero MotoCorp and others, maintain that there is no evidence of widespread engine damage or failures attributable to E20.
The protesters however cited the catalogues of carmakers that show their vehicles are E10 compatible, and not E20.
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