Nitin Gadkari Controversy 2026: From 'Highway Man' To Most Hated Minister | E20, BS7 & Family Company Link
Nitin Gadkari was probably the only politician in the country who was openly praised by the BJP and Congress.
In 2019, in Lok Sabha, Gadkari said "it is his good fortune that all the MPs of the party believe that he has done a good job." Congress's senior politician Sonia Gandhi agreed to this statement by tapping her table. In 2018, Sonia Gandhi wrote a letter full of praise for Gadkari. She also praised the work of her ministry in Raibareli.
He was called the king of the roads, the minister who does the most work and the man whom people started considering their next prime minister. Sir, Gadkari was probably the candidate for the PM of the opposition parties. And often a narrative of "Modi-made Nitin Gadkari" is also run.
But today, the same Nitin Gadkari has become one of the most hated politicians in the country.
From Praise To Public Anger: The Rise And Fall Of Nitin Gadkari
In the next poster, you can see the name Nitinol. In the next poster, you can see that "Ethanol is just an excuse to make his son a millionaire". In another poster, you can see sugarcane juice. After this, sugarcane juice was shown on the petrol pump while riding a bike.
Congress workers created a ruckus on ethanol by placing a sugarcane juice machine on the road. And how they raised slogans against Gadkari. Today, the people who never got tired of praising him are the ones who are abusing him.
And not just the opposition, even his own BJP voters are very angry with him. In one survey, about half of the people who voted for the BJP and NDA themselves rejected his biggest policy.
The situation reached a point where people started talking about a protest against him on Delhi's Jantar Mantar. And the man who used to laugh at his misdeeds, today he is filing an FIR against the people who spoke against him.
The Rise: How High Was His Stature?
A common thought among us is that all politicians are the same. They just talk big, do nothing. But Nitin Gadkari broke this thought.
Since 2014, he used to have a road and highway ministry. And in this ministry, he built so many roads and highways that people started calling him the highway man of India.
- By 2021-22: It was 29 km per day. Now it's 38 km per day.
- Bangalore to Chennai: It used to take 6 hours. Now 2 hours. To be completed by December.
- Delhi to Dehradun: It used to take 7 hours. Now 2 hours. To be completed by December.
- Delhi to Katra: It used to take 10-12 hours. Now 6 hours. To be completed by December.
- Delhi to Meerut: It used to take 4.5 hours. Now 45-50 minutes. The road is completed.
- Delhi to Jaipur: The new road that is being built, it will take 2 hours. To be completed by December.
We are building 36 green express highways. We are building roads from Nagpur to Hyderabad. We are building roads from Pune to Aurangabad.
And this is the reason that whenever there was a survey of the best ministers, Nitin Gadkari's name always came in the top 2-3 names.
His biggest specialty was not his work, but his style. Gadkari's respect was not only in his party, but also in the opponents. He used to build roads in the areas of the opposition leaders even though he knew that his party will not get votes from here.
Nitin Gadkari used to say that "the person who honestly opposes you, you should respect him. Because there is truth in his opposition."
Where every leader used to run behind the chair, there Nitin Gadkari openly used to say that he has never asked for the chair of the Prime Minister. And neither does he have any interest in it.
He used to speak frankly. He used to speak without thinking. And if anyone raised a question, he used to answer it instead of getting angry. Many times he used to openly speak about the shortcomings of his own government. This openness of his was his biggest earning.
And if seen in one way, then two things are the most difficult in politics. One is the trust of the public. The other is respect from the opponents. And both these things were with this one man. And this was the reason that people really started considering him the next Prime Minister of the country.
The Fall: What Were The Policies That Turned People Against Him?
His biggest strength, that is, his honesty and his stubbornness, later became his biggest weakness. Because he was stubborn about some policies which directly attacked the pocket of the common man.
1. E-20 Petrol Controversy
Nitin Gadkari is most angry about E-20 petrol. E-20 is that petrol which has 20% ethanol in it. The government's logic is good. That it will reduce pollution. And we will have to order less oil from outside. But the real problem is hidden below this.
- Mileage Drop: In the survey of LocalCircles, 66% of the people who drive cars said that their mileage has fallen more than 10%. Meaning, the man who used to reach from one place to another in 100 rupees, now has to spend 110 or 115 rupees to cover the same distance.
- Price Not Cheap: And the most interesting thing is that even after the mileage fell, E-20 did not become cheap. That is, the pocket of that common man is being cut from both sides.
- Car Damage: The cars made before 2023 were only made for old fuel. By putting this new E-20 in them, their rubber and metal parts start melting. In one survey, 55% people said that their cars are already experiencing more damage and repair costs.
- Water Problem: This ethanol is called green, but it is mostly made from sugarcane, which is a water-drinking crop. It takes thousands of liters of water to make just 1 liter of ethanol.
Now the environment has become such and the fear among people has become so deep that in one survey, 43% people have avoided their plan to buy a new car for a year. That is, the hit of this policy has not only fallen on the old car owners, but has fallen on the entire market, has fallen on the entire automobile sector.
2. Family Company Link: Cyan Agro & Manas Agro
The worst part of this whole matter goes straight to Gadgari's family. Gadgari's son Nikhil Gadgari has a company, Cyan Agro Industries, which makes ethanol. The income of this company was only 17 crore rupees in June 2024. And by the time June 2025 came, that is, just at that time when the government implemented E-20 all over the country, the income of this company had increased to 523 crore rupees. The share of this company went up more than 2100% in the market. And the profit went straight from about 0 to 52 crore rupees.
And this is not the only company. Gadgari's other son is also there. Sarang. The company associated with him, Manas Agro, also went up rapidly in this era.
Regarding this, Congress leader Pawan Kheda openly said that "on one hand, the income of the common man is stagnant, but on the other hand, the companies of Gadgari's family are getting more and more expensive." Pawan Kheda asked Lokpal to investigate this whole matter.
But Gadgari also testified on this. Gadgari said that "this company is old, and its ethanol is not even half the ethanol of the entire country." It may be true. But the family of a leader with a clear image, getting so rich with his own policies, this doubt does arise.
3. BS-7 Norms & 10/15 Year Car Ban
A big allegation against Gadgari is also that he changes policies so fast that neither the auto companies nor the common man can handle it. The biggest example: BS Norms.
In 2020, the government brought BS 6. It was not even implemented for exactly 5 years. Brands were just settling in it. The government said that now let's do something crazy. Instead of BS 6, they brought BS 7. BS 7 was also implemented in this same 2026.
And because of this BS 7, new cars became expensive from Rs 15,000 to Rs 50,000. First, new cars became more expensive. Second, those people who bought BS 6 just now thinking that it is a car of the government's new rules, after the new rules come, the price of their new car drops.
And the biggest blow to diesel cars was because it is believed that after BS 7, many famous diesel cars will be shut down. And anyway, Gadkari's attitude towards diesel cars was threatening. For a month, he clearly told the industry people to "say goodbye to diesel cars. Stop making them. Otherwise, we will put so much tax that it will be difficult to sell them."
And apart from all this, there is one more rule which has made the people of Delhi and NCR sleepless. The rule is that you can only drive a petrol car for 15 years and a diesel car for only 10 years. You can even drive an electric car for only 15 years. No matter how good the condition of these cars is, but the age has been set.
There are many people who keep their car like a child. They drive less, keep it as new, but 15 years have not passed that their pressure to put that good car in the garbage comes from the government. This one rule has finished the market of all old cars of NCR. And the price of people's cars has come to the ground.
Gadikari's statement opens up his real thinking. He said that "I am so sensitive about pollution that I do not live in Delhi at all. I go out for 2-3 days." Now you think for yourself, the minister himself leaves the city to avoid pollution. He has put all the burden of that on the car of a common man.
4. EV & Hydrogen Dreams
Gadkari is also selling big dreams of new things. Which are not even on the ground now.
The first dream is EV: Mr. Gadkari makes big claims again and again that by 2030, India's EV market will be worth 20 lakh crores. This will generate 5 crore jobs. But EV is still not a practical solution for the common man. First of all, it is expensive. Secondly, it is not reliable for long distances. Because the charging stations are still very few. And electricity in India is still mostly made of coal.
The second dream is hydrogen car: Gadkari Ji openly says that "in my house, there are electric, flex fuel, and hydrogen cars. Come and take a ride in my house." He has even said that "my hydrogen car is better than Mercedes." But the reality is that there are no proper hydrogen pumps in the whole country. The minister himself gets his car filled with hydrogen in a special plant. In 2022, he came to the parliament in a hydrogen car and said that India will soon become a country that exports hydrogen. And hydrogen will cost only 2 rupees per kilometer. But even after years, that pump and that dream have not landed on the ground.
How Did He Handle Criticism?
See, what happened till now was a policy error. It could have been improved. If Gadgari had accepted the problems of the people here, then maybe things wouldn't have gotten so bad. But this is where Gadgari's real downfall begins.
There are many such videos on social media, in which people said that, their car broke down because of E20. And many of those videos were fake. Gargari himself says that, he has kept 52-53 such videos, which are fake. And he also said that, he is going to take action on those people.
But Gadkari, instead of accepting the real problem of the people, told a conspiracy. From a big stage of SIAM, he openly said that, "the social media campaign that is going on against me, is a paid campaign." He also added that, "the Supreme Court has also removed his petition. There is no truth in this. The engineering company, ARAI, and all the SIAM, together, have given full clarity about their findings."
Then he broke the whole petroleum lobby. He said that, "Rs.22 lakh crores were being imported from abroad. My policy has ruined their business. That's why they are angry, and are spreading paid news against me."
Lakhs of common people, whose car mileage has fallen. To call them all sold, or a pawn of a lobby, was a joke of their pain. And then he said that line, which became the biggest example. Gadgari ji clearly said that, "I have never taken a single rupee from any contractor. That's why the contractors are afraid of me." That's why the answer to every question was the same. "I am honest. That's why all this is a conspiracy."
He challenged his critics, that if anyone has a single solid proof that the engine of E20 has broken, then they should bring it. Maruti's case in Chhattisgarh will tell us. The court finally orders Maruti to return all the money of the car, and to give the other car.
The opposition took advantage of all this. Politicians like Arvind Kejriwal came forward and said that "the people who are upset with the E20 are not traitors but patriots. And the government's job is not to suppress their voice but to listen to their problems."
The Big Lesson
It takes years to earn respect but a few weeks to lose it. Gadkari had everything that a big politician needs. Work, name, and the love of the people. But he did only two things: First, to ignore the problems of the common man. Second, to consider the questioners as his enemies.
See, the people forgive mistakes. If Gadkari would have accepted that yes, there is a bit of haste in E-20, some things need to be improved, then people would have put them on their heads. But the people will never forgive one thing and that is arrogance. The same arrogance that says that whatever I am doing is right and the questioner is either sold or a traitor.
And the biggest thing in this is that a common man's pocket is being cut, the mileage of cars is being reduced, and the benefit is being given to his own family members. Even after all this, instead of accepting his mistake, if he is filing an FIR against the questioners or telling them that they are a part of a lobby or a traitor, then see, this is not a good intention. This is plain arrogance.
Mr. Gadkari, you were one of the best politicians of this country. But at least stop considering the people as fools. Accept your mistake, listen to the people, and improve a little. Because the respect that you had earned over the years, don't waste it like this.
FAQ: Nitin Gadkari Controversy 2026
Q1. Why are people protesting against Nitin Gadkari at Jantar Mantar?
Ans: Due to E-20 petrol policy, BS-7 norms, 10/15 year car ban and allegations of family benefit from ethanol companies.
Q2. What is E-20 petrol and why is mileage falling?
Ans: E-20 has 20% ethanol. 66% car owners reported 10%+ mileage drop. Cars made before 2023 face rubber and metal part damage.
Q3. What is the controversy about Cyan Agro Industries?
Ans: Gadkari's son Nikhil's company Cyan Agro income jumped from ₹17 Cr in June 2024 to ₹523 Cr in June 2025 after E-20 rollout. Share up 2100%.
Q4. What are BS-7 norms and how did they make cars expensive?
Ans: BS-7 implemented in 2026 made new cars ₹15,000 to ₹50,000 expensive. Also led to government pushing to shut diesel cars.
Q5. What is the 10 year diesel and 15 year petrol car rule?
Ans: In Delhi-NCR, diesel cars cannot run after 10 years and petrol after 15 years regardless of condition. This crashed resale value of old cars.
Q6. Did Gadkari call the protest a "paid campaign"?
Ans: Yes. He said ₹22 Lakh Cr petrol lobby is behind it and called it politically targeted. He also said he never took money from contractors.
Q7. What did Sonia Gandhi say about Gadkari earlier?
Ans: In 2018 she wrote a praise letter. In 2019 she agreed in Parliament when MPs praised Gadkari's work.
Disclaimer: This article is based on public statements, survey data, court orders and media reports. All allegations are as per public discourse. We do not confirm conflict of interest without official investigation.
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