Dushyant Gautam's Sikkim Guv appointment sparks massive Congress protest

Dushyant Gautam's appointment as the new Governor of Sikkim has triggered a massive Congress protest in Dehradun. The party opposes the move over Gautam's alleged links to the 2022 Ankita Bhandari murder case, leading to an FIR against its leaders.

Dushyant Gautam, the newly appointed Governor of Sikkim, is scheduled to take the oath of office on October 19, 2026, at Lok Bhawan in Gangtok. The oath will be administered by the Chief Justice of the Sikkim High Court. Gautam was appointed by President Droupadi Murmu on October 12, succeeding Om Prakash Mathur, who has been transferred to Keralam.

Massive Protests Erupt Over Appointment

The announcement comes after Congress leaders staged a massive protest outside the main gate of Lok Bhavan in Dehradun on Thursday to oppose the appointment of former BJP Uttarakhand in-charge Dushyant Gautam as the Governor of Sikkim. Meanwhile, an FIR was registered against former Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat along with 30 other Congress leaders in connection with the party’s protest against the appointment of Dushyant Gautam as Sikkim Governor over the Ankita Bhandari case. Additionally, cases have also been registered against Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) president Ganesh Godiyal, Harak Singh Rawat, and Pritam Singh under sections 132 and 223 of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita 2023.

Appointment Linked to Ankita Bhandari Case

Meanwhile, Congress MP and AICC in-charge for Uttarakhand, Kumari Selja, launched a scathing attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over the appointment of a leader whose name has surfaced in connection with the Ankita Bhandari case as a Governor, stating that the move demonstrates a complete disregard for democracy and justice. Hitting out at the ruling dispensation, Kumari Selja said, "Congress was actually the first party to raise Ankita Bhandari's case, and our leaders brought it up. Her family has been pleading for justice ever since, and the Congress party has stood by them. In Uttarakhand, there was this case of Ankita Bhandari that shook the entire state and made everyone wonder how something like this could even happen. And then names that came up, and that are still coming up- there's a CBI investigation going on too, and some things have become public that include a few names. Today, the BJP government just picks one of those names and makes him the Governor."

The Congress leader further questioned the intent behind assigning constitutional roles to individuals facing public scrutiny, asserting that people do not have faith in the governance of the BJP. "So you can see that people don't believe in democracy or justice anymore, and they certainly don't have any faith in this government, and they shouldn't. What made you feel the need to pick out people whose names are coming up and make them Governors?" added Selja.

Ankita was murdered on September 18, 2022, and her body was recovered from the Chilla Canal on September 24, 2022. Following the incident, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, urged President Droupadi Murmu to reconsider the appointment of Dushyant Kumar Gautam as the Governor of Sikkim until the investigation into the 2022 Ankita Bhandari murder case is completed. (ANI)

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