In a stunning victory for public pressure and responsible opposition, the BJP-led Delhi government withdrew its Tughlaqi fuel ban targeting 61 lakh old vehicles. Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) Delhi State President Saurabh Bharadwaj exposed how the ban was never about pollution—but a corrupt ploy to boost automobile sales through coordinated collusion between BJP and the central government-backed Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM). While BJP ministers chest-thumped about seizures and raids, only AAP stood firmly with Delhiites, leading the charge against this anti-people conspiracy and forcing a humiliating U-turn.
Addressing a press conference, AAP Delhi State President Saurabh Bharadwaj stated, “In the past few days, the people of Delhi have forced the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to reverse several of its ‘Tughlaqi’ diktats. The BJP government was compelled to withdraw its arbitrary orders.”
Recalling the BJP’s announcement to block fuel supply to older vehicles, Saurabh Bharadwaj said, “When the government declared it would stop petrol and diesel supply to older vehicles at fuel stations, BJP ministers were jumping on television saying, ‘No one will be spared.’ They boasted about deploying 400 teams to patrol fuel pumps, ready to seize vehicles—while the BJP itself remained completely silent.”
Emphasizing who actually stood up for people, he said, “At that time, it was only the common citizens of Delhi and the Aam Aadmi Party that opposed this decision. As a responsible opposition, we consistently raised our voice. Now, the BJP government claims that the ban was due to a court order. So we investigated. The first order on this subject came from the National Green Tribunal on 7 April 2015, and from the Supreme Court on 15 April 2015—ten years ago.”
The AAP Delhi Unit President pointed to the timeline to expose BJP’s deceit: “From 2015 to 2025, it was the Aam Aadmi Party’s government in Delhi, and we never issued any such order to block fuel at petrol pumps. So why did you? When caught red-handed, BJP’s Environment Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa wrote a letter to CAQM blaming them, saying they couldn’t implement the ban after all. The BJP government was caught in its own web.”
Reading from BJP’s own documents, he said, “Sirsa’s letter mentions that on 23 April 2025, CAQM directed them to stop fuel supply to older vehicles. But there’s a video of Sirsa from 1 March 2025—just a week after the new government was sworn in on 20 February—where he is announcing to the press that from 31 March onwards, old vehicles would be denied petrol and diesel. So clearly, they had already decided to remove 61 lakh vehicles from Delhi’s roads to push people into buying new ones.”
Calling out collusion, Saurabh Bharadwaj asserted, “This proves that the BJP-led Delhi government conspired with CAQM—a body under the central government. The 23 April letter was merely eyewash. The decision had already been made, and the ban was conveniently implemented. This was nothing less than a ‘Tughlaqi’ order imposed jointly by the Delhi BJP government and the central government-backed CAQM.”
He highlighted the commercial intent behind the crackdown: “The goal was to force millions of people to buy new cars, motorcycles, and scooters. And this wasn’t the first time. Remember, the very first arbitrary order this government passed after assuming office targeted three-wheelers. They declared that only electric three-wheelers would be allowed going forward.”
Recalling backlash from auto drivers, the former Delhi minister, “They set expiry dates for existing three-wheelers and tried to compel auto drivers to shift to electric vehicles. Auto drivers resisted. Due to public pressure, the BJP took a U-turn. And now again, because of public anger, they’ve reversed this fuel supply ban.”
Expressing frustration with media coverage, he said, “I must express my disappointment with a leading English daily. On its front page, it wrote: ‘Both BJP and AAP opposed the crackdown.’ I want to ask the Times of India, if BJP opposed the ban, why didn’t you publish it on April 1st? Or April 2nd? Or April 3rd? Why only on April 4th?”
Challenging BJP’s media narrative, he added, “If BJP really opposed the ban, did Virendra Sachdeva ever write a letter? If yes, please share a copy with us. I appeal to all newspapers to report facts responsibly and to question the government. But when the public fought this battle—on the streets, on Twitter, on Facebook—and the opposition parties stood with them, instead of holding the government accountable for an unthought-out decision, some newspapers tried to whitewash it. That is wrong.”
He warned of formal complaints ahead, saying, “We are collecting detailed evidence of this pattern and will file a complaint with the Press Council of India. That is not their job. It’s not their responsibility to mislead the middle class. They should be helping people understand what’s right and what’s wrong.”
Reading from BJP minister Sirsa’s 1 March remarks, he hit out at BJP’s hypocrisy, stating, “Nowhere in this statement is there any mention of court orders or helplessness. Instead, they were proudly chest-thumping—saying ‘we’ll do this, we’ll stop petrol, we’ll block diesel, we’ll install devices.’ This was pure bulldozing, not compulsion.”
He added, “On 1 March they said they’d implement the ban by 31 March. The only reason they didn’t was because the infrastructure wasn’t ready. Then they shifted the date to 30 June. They kept insisting they wouldn’t back down and kept hiding behind old court orders. But those orders were from 2015—there was no new order that justified this ban in 2025.”
Calling for a deeper probe, the senior AAP leader emphasised, “CAQM functions under the central government. Bureaucrats are posted there by the Centre. The role of CAQM in this entire episode must be investigated. This points toward a large-scale corruption conspiracy—who planned this scheme, where was it devised, and why was such a ban policy forced on the people of Delhi?”
He questioned the official narrative again, saying, “Even in the letter issued yesterday, the government tried to cover up by blaming the 23 April CAQM letter. But their public announcement was made on 1 March. The truth is in plain sight.”
