Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav on Wednesday (August 19, 2026) attacked the Centre over E20 petrol, citing a reported remark by Chief Economic Advisor V. Anantha Nageswaran backing E10 petrol and raising concern over the impact of E20 on vehicles.
Nageswaran’s reported remarks and questioned the government’s position on the fuel. In a post on X, the former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister shared a picture citing Mr. “Who is right: the government or the adviser? Mr. Yadav asked, referring to what he described as conflicting positions on E20.
The SP president said motorists whose vehicles had allegedly developed problems after using E20 were “being forced to seek assistance”, while the government maintained that there was no issue with the fuel and advisers were cautioning about its impact on vehicles. The leader of the third largest party in the Lok Sabha asked why the BJP-led government, which he said conducts surveys on various issues, was not directly seeking the views of people who were facing problems allegedly linked to E20. Calling E20 a “double-edged sword”, Mr. Yadav said it was imposing a “double burden” on people in the form of expensive petrol as well as higher vehicle maintenance costs.
