Shimla, March 23 -- The Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday strongly opposed the Himachal Pradesh Value Added Tax (Amendment) Bill, 2026, which proposes a levy in the form of a "widow and orphan cess", with Leader of Opposition Jai Ram Thakur launching a scathing attack on the Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu-led Congress government and terming its budget as "a bundle of lies designed to mislead the state".

Initiating discussion in the Assembly, Thakur criticised both the proposed cess and the overall budgetary framework, alleging that the government was attempting to raise funds under the garb of welfare.

"The current reality is that, in order to sustain its administration, the government is now raising funds in the name of widows and orphans; this...