Labeling the reports of a proposed toilet tax in the state as baseless, Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhuon Friday slammed BJP after it claimed that the Congress-led government is planning to impose a tax of Rs 25 on toilets in urban households.

Speaking to reporters, Sukhu said, “BJP distributed free sweets to the capable people whereas today in Himachal, facilities are being provided to every needy person. Allegations like toilet tax are completely baseless. They need to seriously study this issue.”

The controversy sparked after the reports alleged that the Sukhu government had ordered citizens to pay sewage connection fees per toilet seat in their homes, as the state faces a financial crisis. 

With the alleged proposal of the state government, Opposition BJP including Union Ministers criticized the Congress-led state government for taxing basic amenities.

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman expressed her disbelief on a social media platform and said, “Unbelievable, if true! While PM Modi builds Swachhata as a people’s movement, here is Congress taxing people for toilets! Shame that they didn’t provide good sanitation during their time, but this step will shame the country.”

Addressing the ‘Abhinandan Samaroh’ organised by party workers in Himachal Pradesh’s Bilaspur, BJP president JP Nadda hit out at Sukhu government over a toiled tax proposal in the state.

“Himachal has become 100% ODF under the Swachh Bharat campaign. But today I heard here that Sukhu ji has imposed tax on toilets here as well. This Congress government has lost its mind!” he slammed Congress government in the state.

BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla took a swipe at Congress, saying, “Now Congress won’t even let you to go to toilet in peace”.

The Himachal Pradesh government, after facing backlash from the Opposition, released an official statement that read, “The Jal Shakti Department of Himachal Pradesh refutes the news published in the media, which claims that sewage connections will be provided based on the number of toilet seats installed by the building owner. It is clarified that no such notification has been issued by the present government.”

It added that sewage connections will continue to be provided as before and further clarified that the recent notification pertains only to water charges, and all other conditions remain unchanged.

Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Friday spoke to the Dalit man whose family including son, daughter-in-law, and two granddaughters were shot dead by an unknown assailant in nearby Amethi.   

“A Dalit family was shot dead in a brutal incident in Amethi, Uttar Pradesh. Today MP Shri Kishori Lal Sharma made the victim’s family talk to the Leader of Opposition Shri Rahul Gandhi. Strict action should be taken against the culprits in this case and the victims should get justice,” the Congress said in a post on X.

According to PTI, Ram Gopal (60) arrived in Sudamapuri village in the Unchahar area of Rae Bareli with the bodies of his family members, who were killed in their rented home on Thursday evening.

Amethi MP Kishori Lal Sharma, who came to Rae Bareli at Gandhi’s behest, arranged the phone call, which lasted about three minutes according to visuals.

Sunil Kumar, 35, a government school teacher, his 32-year-old wife Poonam, and the couple’s two daughters, Drishti and Suni, were shot dead in the Ahorwa Bhawani area of Amethi.

“The way my son has gone, they (killers) should go the same way,” Ram Gopal told reporters earlier in the day in Amethi.

The Amethi MP said he had been in touch with Ram Gopal since yesterday. Sharma said he has spoken to the DM of Amethi and asked him to probe the case from all angles. “Let the police investigation get completed,” he said.

“The government keeps patting its back, claiming good law and order, but if that is the case, why such incidents are happening?” he asked.

Sharma, a first-time MP, said it was Rae Bareli MP Rahul Gandhi who had asked him to go to his constituency.

Speaking to reporters, Sharma said: “I spoke to Rahul ji and apprised him about the incident and the situation. He asked me to reach the village. The incident happened in my constituency and the victims were natives of Rahul ji’s parliamentary constituency. Both constituencies are associated with the Gandhi family. He directed me to come here and I am here.”

According to police, Poonam had lodged a police complaint against Chandan Verma in Rae Bareli on August 18 under the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, and for harassment.

The deceased Poonam had written in the complaint that if anything happens to her or her family, Verma should be held responsible for it, Amethi Superintendent of Police Anoop Kumar Singh said on Thursday.

High drama unfolded at Mantralaya, the state Secretariat in south Mumbai on Friday after some tribal leaders, including Maharashtra Assembly Deputy Speaker Narhari Zirwal, jumped from the third floor of the state’s Mantralaya and got stuck on the safety net over the tribal quota issue.

Zirwal’s extreme move came amidst the ongoing protest against the ST (Scheduled Tribe) reservation demanded by the Dhangar community. 

Police present at the moment said nobody was injured in the incident. The protesters included two MLAs and an MP from the ruling Mahayuti alliance in the state.

Nationalist Congress Party leader Ajit Pawar faction MLA Narhari Zirwal and Kiran Lahamate and BJP’s tribal MP Hemant Savara were among those who jumped from the third floor onto the safety net, that was installed in 2018 after a spate of suicide attempts at the secretariat.

After police personnel removed these leaders from the net, the tribal representatives then gathered in the ground floor passage and began a sit-in claiming that Chief Minister Eknath Shinde was not meeting them to discuss the quota issue.

“I am an adivasi first and then an MLA and a deputy speaker,” Zirwal told reporters when asked what led him to resort to such a protest. “CM Shinde should meet the protesters,” he added.

BJP MLC Gopichand Padalkar said Zirwal holds a constitutional post and there is no need to take such an extreme step.

Zirwal said the state government should offer protection to students who have been protesting since a fortnight against the halt to recruitment under the Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act (PESA) in Maharashtra.

Dhangars, a different community from Dhangads, which already enjoy ST status. Dhangars are part of the shepherd community, which falls within the Other Backward Classes category. They hail from western Maharashtra and Marathwada region and have been demanding inclusion in the ST category.

The agitating Dhangars claim that they are the same as Dhangads and are subsequently demanding a similar status.