Dushyant Gautam’s appointment sparks protest; Rahul Gandhi joins Ankita’s parents

NEW DELHI: Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra joined the parents of Ankita Bhandari in a protest at India Gate on Wednesday, expressing solidarity with the family of the woman who was murdered in Uttarakhand in 2022. The protest comes a day after BJP leader Dushyant Kumar Gautam was appointed Governor of Sikkim. The appointment has drawn strong opposition from the Uttarakhand Congress, which has raised concerns over allegations linking Gautam to the alleged ‘VIP’ angle in the Ankita Bhandari murder case.

Ankita’s parents and some activists have raised allegations concerning Gautam’s purported links to the case. However, the allegations have not been established in court. The Uttarakhand Congress had earlier staged a silent protest in front of the Mahatma Gandhi statue at Gandhi Park in Dehradun, opposing Gautam’s appointment.

Ankita, 19, worked as a receptionist at a resort in Uttarakhand’s Rishikesh. She was murdered in September 2022, and her body was recovered from the Chilla canal. Resort owner Pulkit Arya and two accomplices were convicted in the case and sentenced to life imprisonment.

Earlier, Rahul Gandhi had criticised the arrest of Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) leaders following their protest at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi. His remarks were described as his first public expression of support for the party since its formation. CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke subsequently thanked the Congress leader. Rahul Gandhi’s participation in the protest over the Ankita Bhandari case comes amid these recent developments.