Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra joined Ankita Bhandari’s parents at an India Gate protest on Wednesday, opposing Dushyant Kumar Gautam’s appointment as Sikkim governor while a Central Bureau of Investigation inquiry examines the unresolved “VIP” allegation in the 2022 murder case. The family has asked that Gautam’s appointment be held back until the investigation is completed. Gautam has not been named as an accused or chargesheeted in the murder case, while Bhandari’s parents allege that he is the unidentified VIP referred to in recent complaints and public claims.
Bhandari, 19, worked as a receptionist at a resort near Rishikesh run by Pulkit Arya, the son of former BJP leader Vinod Arya. A court later convicted Arya and resort employees Saurabh Bhaskar and Ankit Gupta, sentencing all three to rigorous life imprisonment. Arya also received additional terms for destroying evidence, sexual harassment and offences under the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act.
The case returned to the political spotlight after an FIR was registered in early 2026 against an unidentified VIP, following renewed claims and circulated audio and video clips. Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami subsequently recommended a CBI inquiry, and the agency took custody of the police FIR, the Special Investigation Team’s report and related records. CBI officers later questioned Bhandari’s parents, who have challenged the pace and scope of the inquiry.
The Congress has held protests in Uttarakhand and Delhi since Gautam’s appointment was announced. Rahul later said the family had been denied justice while an alleged VIP had received a constitutional position.
The Uttarakhand government has defended its handling of the original case, saying the accused were arrested within 24 hours, an SIT was formed, government lawyers were changed and the trial resulted in convictions. Officials said the CBI inquiry was ordered after the family sought it. The current dispute therefore concerns the still-unresolved VIP allegation and the timing of Gautam’s appointment, not the convictions already secured against the three men tried in the murder case.