New Delhi [India], October 14 : Lodging a strong protest against the appointment of BJP leader Dushyant Kumar Gautam as the governor of Sikkim, Congress leader Pawan Khera on Wednesday slammed the BJP over the handling of the 2022 Ankita Bhandari murder case. 
Speaking to ANI, Pawan Khera said, “You granted them immunity. You aren’t even waiting for the CBI inquiry. What is the pressure to wrap this up so quickly? Who are you shielding? ... Why risk everything? You seem unconcerned about the election; you have no fear. The government has lost all sense of fear."
“And when the regime—the ruler—loses that fear, the people suffer and cry out in anguish. The outcry we witness today exists precisely because the ruler no longer fears anything. It is deeply tragic. Justice is a distant dream. The very people who are supposed to deliver justice are not standing with the victim. They have sided with the accused—the person facing the allegations,” he added.
Meanwhile, Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi and Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Wednesday met with the parents of the late Ankita Bhandari during their sit-in protest at India Gate in New Delhi.
The grieving family is staging a demonstration against the recent appointment of BJP leader Dushyant Kumar Gautam as the Governor of Sikkim, citing alleged links and calling for an immediate halt to his constitutional posting pending a central investigation.
Expressing deep dissatisfaction over the government's decision, Ankita's father, Virendra Singh Bhandari, demanded legal accountability over the political appointment, "Dushyant Kumar should be behind bars. I earnestly request the Honourable President not to appoint Dushyant Kumar as Governor until the CBI investigation is concluded."
She was murdered on September 18, 2022, and her body was recovered from the Chilla Canal on September 24, 2022.
The resort owner Pulkit Arya (son of expelled BJP leader Vinod Arya) and two staff members, Saurabh Bhaskar and Ankit Gupta, were arrested, chargesheeted and on May 30, 2025, sentenced to life imprisonment by Additional District Judge Reena Negi in Kotdwar for murder, destruction of evidence and other charges.