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The people’s newsroom

PoliticsGovernors

Ankita Bhandari's parents sit in at India Gate against Dushyant Gautam's appointment as Sikkim Governor

Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi joined the couple, who want the BJP leader's appointment held back until the CBI finishes its inquiry into their daughter's murder. Gautam denies any role.

From the editorial desk · New DelhiPublished
BJP leader and Sikkim Governor-designate Dushyant Gautam and Rahul Gandhi, who joined the sit-in (file photos)
BJP leader and Sikkim Governor-designate Dushyant Gautam and Rahul Gandhi, who joined the sit-in (file photos)Photos: Nlengay / Wikimedia Commons; https://www.youtube.com/@rahulgandhi / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 and CC BY 3.0

Key points

  1. Ankita Bhandari's parents asked President Droupadi Murmu to put Dushyant Gautam's appointment on hold.
  2. Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra joined their sit-in near India Gate on Wednesday.
  3. Gautam has denied the allegations and has started defamation proceedings against those making them.

The parents of Ankita Bhandari, the 19-year-old resort receptionist murdered in Uttarakhand in 2022, staged a sit-in near India Gate in New Delhi on Wednesday against the appointment of BJP leader Dushyant Kumar Gautam as Governor of Sikkim.

Rahul Gandhi, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, and Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra joined them on the pavement, along with activist Yogita Bhayana.

“Dushyant Gautam should not be appointed governor until the CBI investigation is complete,” said Ankita’s mother, Soni Devi, breaking down as she spoke. “We were deeply pained when we heard the news on the 12th,” she said, referring to the day the appointment was announced. Her husband, Virendra Singh Bhandari, appealed to President Droupadi Murmu to hold back the appointment. “Dushyant Kumar should be behind bars,” he said.

Ankita worked at the Vanantra Resort near Rishikesh and was killed on 18 September 2022. The resort’s owner, Pulkit Arya, son of former BJP leader Vinod Arya, and two staff members were convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment in May 2025. Her family and activists have long alleged that an unnamed “VIP” was linked to the crime, and Gautam’s name has repeatedly come up. The allegations against him are unproven. He has denied them and has started defamation proceedings against those making them. The CBI is now investigating.

“Ankita’s family is crying for justice, while the BJP is rewarding the very man facing allegations in her case,” the Congress said on X.

Gautam was named Governor of Sikkim this week in a reshuffle that moved Om Prakash Mathur from Sikkim to Keralam.