Now, Himachal gets embroiled in ‘toilet tax’ row; Sukhu denies claims

Shimla: Struggling to quell opposition criticism on failed election guarantees, Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu is facing fresh backlash over BJP’s allegations of a “toilet seat tax” reportedly introduced by the cash-strapped state to generate resources.

The CM, who is currently in Delhi, reacted sharply to BJP’s remarks, terming the reports as misleading.

This was after Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman and BJP national president JP Nadda, who arrived in his home town — Bilaspur — slammed the Congress for taxing the people on toilet use.

“Unbelievable, if true! Whilst PM (Narendra) Modi ji builds Swachhata as a people’s movement, here is Congress taxing people for toilets!” Sitharaman said in a post on X.

According to the reports, the Himachal government has decided to charge Rs 25 as tax per toilet seat in the urban areas. The inquiries revealed that the state government had issued a notification last month proposing toilet seat tax on the hotels, which are using water from their own private sources but using the sewage system of the government.

However, Sukhu said no such tax has been imposed in the state. He, though, admitted that water charges have been raised in the state and subsidies available to the taxpayers have been slashed or withdrawn.

“In the light of Haryana Assembly polls, the BJP is either playing the religion card or sometimes raising the fabricated toilet tax issue. No one should attempt to politicise issues purely for political gains, especially when the allegations are far from reality,” he said.

Sukhu said that prior to the Assembly elections in the state in 2022, the then BJP government had introduced free sops worth Rs 5,000 crore including provision of free water in a bid to secure electoral success.

In view of this, the state government has taken steps to justify the water subsidy and decided to impose minimal charges of Rs 100 per connection a month in the rural areas.

Meanwhile, Deputy Chief Minister Mukesh Agnihotri termed the controversy as “misrepresentation and twisting of facts”. The jalshakti minister reminded the BJP of sewerage tax which it had imposed but was withdrawn by the Congress.