Shimla, March 21 The BJP staged a protest both inside and outside the Himachal Pradesh Vidhan Sabha on Saturday against the state government's policies, specifically the recently increased entry tax, and demanded its immediate withdrawal.
The protest was held during the Budget Session of the Himachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly just before Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu was scheduled to present the state budget. Led by Leader of the Opposition Jairam Thakur, a united opposition leveled allegations against the government for "imposing an additional financial burden" on the people and the business community.
During the protest, BJP legislators raised slogans and asserted that the steep increase in the entry tax would not only impact the transport sector but would also have far-reaching consequences, manifesting as inflation that would directly affect the households of ordinary citizens.
Thakur said that this additional levy on commercial vehicles would lead to a direct increase in freight and transportation costs, thereby making it inevitable that the prices of daily essential commodities in the market would rise.
Terming the government's policy "anti-people," the opposition warned that this move could also strain trade relations with neighboring states. Citing Punjab in particular, the leader of the opposition said that if the Himachal Pradesh government raises taxes at its borders, other states might retaliate by imposing heavy taxes on Himachal-registered vehicles. This would cause the state's inter-state trade to collapse completely, inflicting massive losses on local transporters, he added.
Later, while staging a protest in the Assembly complex, the BJP legislative party demanded that the government withdraw this "anti-people decision" before the budget speech.