By Shishir Prashant 
PrashantNews
At a time when the ruling BJP in Uttarakhand is facing political wrath in the Ankita Bhandari murder case, most of the Cabinet Ministers and other top party leaders are in silent mode these days.
Except Forest Minister Subodh Uniyal, other Cabinet Ministers are mostly busy in their official and other political works finding no time to help the BJP to ward off blistering attacks from the opposition. “We are not finding any person to give a befitting reply to the repeated attacks of the opposition in the Ankita Bhandari murder case,” admitted a top BJP leader.
Most of the BJP leaders are finding it difficult to talk on the issue.
Since the Ankita Bhandari murder issue is politically very sensitive, the BJP high command is closely monitoring the situation in Uttarakhand, the BJP sources said.
In the midst of the Ankita Bhandari issue, Cabinet Minister Rekha Arya was in news recently after her husband Girdhari Lal Sahu was forced to apologize on a controversial viral video that purportedly showed him saying that girls are available in Bihar for Rs 20,000-25000. “If we cannot help our party at least, we should not make situation unpleasant,” lamented another BJP leader.
The Ankita Bhandari controversy has recently taken a new turn after Shekhar Suyal, a top investigator, said the SIT investigations have found no evidence of any VIP in the case suggesting BJP General Secretary Dushyant Gautam was not involved.
Suyal, SP Haridwar (Rural), who is part of the SIT investigations in the Ankita Bhandari case, said the so-called VIP, which was referred to by a key witness, turned out to be one Dharmendra Kumar alias Pradhan of Noida after thorough investigations. Pradhan’s name as VIP surfaced in the investigations on the evidence provided by Pushpdeep, a friend of Ankita Bhandari, who was murdered on September 18, 2022 near Vantara resort in Pauri district. Bhandari’s body was found in nearby Chila canal.
But Suyal’s new statement in the Ankita Bhandari case has not found many takers in the BJP. Only BJP leader Naresh Bansal, Member Rajya Sabha, in a press conference on Monday said the SIT investigations have not found any evidence of the existence of any VIP in the case. “We are now saying everywhere that there is no involvement of any VIP in the Anikta Bhandari case,” said Manvir Singh Chauhan, state BJP chief spokesman.
The fresh controversy in the Ankita Bhandari case arose from a recently viral video and an alleged audio conversation between former BJP MLA Suresh Rathore and his alleged wife Urmila Sanawar. In her video, Sanawar claimed that the alleged VIP in the Ankita murder case is a person named ‘Gattu’. In another video, Sanawar also revealed Gattu’s identity, which upset BJP leader Gautam, who had threatened to take legal action against all those who were dragging his name in the case.
While the Congress party is demanding a CBI inquiry into the entire matter under the supervision of a sitting or retired Supreme Court judge, the BJP has tried to portray Sanawar as a woman allegedly involved in suspicious activities but said it was ready for any probe provided credible evidence is produced in the case.
At present, Satpal Maharaj, Subodh Uniyal, Ganesh Joshi, Dhan Singh Rawat, Saurabh Bahugna and Rekha Arya are cabinet ministers. People like BJP leader Madan Kaushik, a noted speaker, who was unceremoniously removed from the post of state President amid hill-plain divide controversy, has taken a back seat. Another orator Munna Singh Chauhan is also not being given any prominence in the party these days despite his hill background.