PoliticsProtests
Ankita Bhandari protesters detained outside Delhi court as Uttarakhand BJP attacks Congress gherao plan
Congress, AAP and Left workers demanded a probe supervised by the Chief Justice of India, while in Dehradun the BJP called the Congress's plan to surround the assembly 'negative politics'.
Key points
- Police detained protesters outside Patiala House Court who wanted the CBI probe supervised by the CJI.
- Protesters demanded that Dushyant Gautam's appointment as Sikkim Governor be revoked.
- The Congress plans to gherao the Uttarakhand assembly on 27 October, the session's first day.
Delhi Police detained several protesters, among them Congress workers, outside the Patiala House Court on Sunday as they demanded a transparent, court-monitored investigation into the 2022 murder of 19-year-old Ankita Bhandari in Uttarakhand.
Laxman Rawat, a Delhi Congress member, said about 50 people were detained, several of whom were taken to Jaffarpur police station. Between 100 and 150 people were reported to have taken part, including Congress functionaries from Uttarakhand and members of the Aam Aadmi Party and Left parties.
“Ankita Bhandari deserves justice, and her family deserves answers,” Mr Rawat said, adding that no one should be above the law. “We demand that Dushyant Gautam’s appointment as Sikkim governor be revoked,” one protester said.
The protesters want the CBI investigation now under way to be supervised directly by the Chief Justice of India, and the alleged “VIP” angle in the case examined fairly. Mr Gautam, a BJP leader, has been alleged to be the “VIP” who sought favours from Bhandari, though nothing incriminating has been established against him. His appointment as Governor has set off fresh protests in the capital, including a sit-in by Bhandari’s parents at India Gate last week.
‘A dark chapter’ in Dehradun
In Dehradun, Uttarakhand BJP president Mahendra Bhatt attacked the Congress’s plan, announced on Saturday, to gherao the state assembly on the first day of its two-day session in Gairsain on 27 and 28 October. He called it “yet another dark chapter in the annals of negative politics”.
Mr Bhatt said the Congress had spent five years protesting outside the House and disrupting it from within, and urged opposition legislators to make the last session before next year’s election a productive one.
The Congress says it will raise the Ankita Bhandari case, including the alleged VIP’s role, along with corruption, unemployment and migration from the hills, and plans a Nyay Yatra with public meetings across the state’s constituencies.