By Shishir Prashant 
PrashantNews
The BJP appears to have invited trouble for itself by appointing Dushyant Kumar Gautam as Sikkim Governor, months after his name surfaced in allegations surrounding the alleged VIP angle in the Ankita Bhandari murder case in the poll-bound Uttarakhand.
Gautam was appointed Governor of Sikkim on October 12, 2026. His new appointment has drawn big political criticism in the wake of allegations linking him to the alleged VIP angle in the 2022 murder of Ankita Bhandari, a receptionist in the Vintara resort near Rishikesh, that had led to public outcry in Uttarakhand. The allegations were made by Urmila Sanawar, who has claimed to be the second wife of former BJP MLA Suresh Rathore. Her statements, which gained traction online in late 2025 and early 2026, named Gautam in connection with the alleged VIP angle.
Coming just months before the state Assembly elections, the Ankita Bhandari murder case has threatened to revive public anger once again and give the opposition a potent issue against the BJP ahead of the assembly elections.
The protests gained national attention on Wednesday when Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi and Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra joined Ankita’s parents Virendra Singh Bhandari and Soni Devi at India Gate in New Delhi. The family has demanded that Gautam’s appointment be put on hold until the CBI completes its investigation into the alleged VIP angle in the murder case. The parents were briefly detained by Delhi Police on Thursday morning and subsequently released.
The political significance of the development lies in the involvement of the victim’s family in a campaign that the Congress had already launched against Gautam. Their participation gives the protest a dimension beyond the usual confrontation between the BJP and Congress. It places the family’s demand for justice at the centre of a political debate over accountability and the handling of a case that continues to evoke strong emotions in Uttarakhand.
The controversy has returned to the forefront after Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, buckling under pressure from various quarters, recommended a CBI investigation into the alleged VIP angle earlier this year. Ankita’s parents has argued that the appointment should not proceed while questions surrounding the alleged VIP remain unresolved. However, no guilt on Gautam’s part has been established in the case.
For the BJP and Chief Minister Dhami, the timing could hardly be more sensitive. The party has been in power in Uttarakhand since 2017 and will face voters in early 2027 amid the huge challenge of 10 years of anti-incumbency. The opposition is seeking to turn the Ankita case into a broader question of governance and accountability rather than allowing it to remain confined to the criminal investigation.
The controversy is also unfolding alongside the opposition’s wider campaign over alleged electoral irregularities and its demand for the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. While the two issues are distinct, both are being used to question the functioning and accountability of institutions.
Whether the Gautam controversy translates into electoral damage for the BJP will depend on how the government responds and whether the CBI investigation addresses the family’s concerns. But the appointment has handed the Congress an issue with considerable emotional resonance at a crucial moment in Uttarakhand politics.