Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday accused the Narendra Modi government of trying to “silence” the parents of Ankita Bhandari, who were allegedly taken into custody at 4am from India Gate in Delhi while protesting against the appointment of BJP leader Dushyant Gautam as Sikkim Governor.
The couple have demanded that the appointment be put on hold until the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) completes its probe into their daughter’s 2022 murder in Uttarakhand.
“This is the hallmark of this government: silence the voices of the victims, remove those who ask questions,” Gandhi said in a post on X. “But the fight for justice will neither be silenced nor stopped.”
The Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition (LoP) said the couple were sitting quietly at the Delhi landmark “with heavy shoulders, without any commotion.” Their demand, he said, was that Gautam not be made Governor until the CBI completes its probe into the murder of their daughter, a 19-year-old resort receptionist from Uttarakhand.
Gautam, a former BJP national general secretary, has denied any link to the case. He moved the Delhi High Court, which directed the Congress and the AAP to remove social media posts connecting him to it. BJP leader Gaurav Bhatia welcomed the order and called the posts “malicious” and without basis.
The BJP’s stand is that no agency has named Gautam.
Ankita Bhandari worked at the Vanantra resort in Pauri Garhwal. She went missing on September 18, 2022, barely three weeks into the job, and her body was recovered from a canal days later. The case set off protests across Uttarakhand and sustained public anger over how the early investigation was handled.
Three men, including resort owner Pulkit Arya, were sentenced to life imprisonment. The family has continued to press for a probe into a so-called “VIP” angle. The demand gained pace after a video released in December by Urmila Sanawar, wife of former BJP MLA Suresh Rathore, claimed the VIP was a person nicknamed “Gattu”, whom she identified as Gautam.
Uttarakhand chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami recommended a CBI inquiry on January 9. The agency took custody of the SIT report, the FIR and other records on February 4, and a case was registered against an unidentified VIP. The CBI has not publicly named anyone.
Gandhi said he and Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra met the parents, Virendra Singh Bhandari and Soni Devi, on Wednesday. He said the appointment was rushed even before the results of the probe were known, and that those asking questions were “picked up in the dead of night.”
“The Congress stands with Ankita Bhandari’s family, and will continue to stand until they get justice,” Gandhi said, turning a late-night detention into the party’s latest line of attack on the Centre.
Gautam was named Governor of Sikkim on a Monday. Uttarakhand Congress president Ganesh Godiyal announced a one-hour silent fast in Dehradun the following day, saying the appointment “deeply wounds” the sentiments of the people of the state.
Godiyal described the appointment as “highly objectionable.” The Congress argues that Gautam is the VIP the family has spoken of, and it wants the Centre to hold back the appointment until the CBI states its findings.
The Congress says the Centre should have waited, as the CBI took over the records about eight months ago and its findings are yet to be made public.
A Governor is appointed by the President on the advice of the Union government, which puts the decision squarely on the Centre.