The Delhi Police on Tuesday stopped Arvind Kejriwal, who along with 100 people, wanted to march to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s residence to submit lakhs of petitions against E20 petrol.
“We are not terrorists, we want to meet PM Modi over the E20 fuel issue, kindly inform him that we want to meet,” Kejriwal told cops when he was stopped mid-way.
A police source said no permission was granted for the march.
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
BJP MP Tarun Chugh called it a “meaningless campaign”.
“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,” the BJP MP said.
Last month, Rahul Gandhi led a march to the Prime Minister’s residence over the police crackdown against protesting students demanding reforms in the education system. He was forcibly removed from the spot and briefly detained.
“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,” Kejriwal said at a press conference yesterday.
The former Delhi Chief Minister said he would personally hand over the petitions to PM Modi after receiving no response to a letter he sent to the Prime Minister last month seeking an appointment to discuss concerns over E20 petrol.
In his letter, Kejriwal had sought the availability of options for both pure petrol and E20 fuel at petrol stations, besides demanding a reduction in the price of ethanol-blended petrol.
“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 said.
Kejriwal also said the “Ethanol Townhall” organised by the AAP last week was a “huge success”, with a large number of people joining the meeting virtually.
Delhi BJP president Harsh Malhotra said that Kejriwal’s announcement to march to the Prime Minister’s residence is part of the ongoing competition between him and the Congress over who can emerge as the country’s Number 1 anarchist.
He said that ever since the Congress staged a protest at the Prime Minister’s residence, Kejriwal appeared to be falling behind in this politics of disruption. To make up for it, Kejriwal announced that he would march to the Prime Minister’s residence over the ethanol issue without obtaining permission, Malhotra said.
Malhotra said that creating disorder first and then playing the victim card has long been Kejriwal’s political style.
“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.
