Opposition parties protest Dushyant Gautam’s appointment as Sikkim Governor

Opposition parties in Sikkim have opposed the appointment of Dushyant Kumar Gautam as the State’s Governor.

The Sikkim unit of Congress and the Sikkim Democratic Front (SDF) said President Droupadi Murmu should recall Mr. Gautam until the Central Bureau of Investigation completes its probe into the Ankita Bhandari murder case.

Bhandari, a 19-year-old receptionist at a resort in Uttarakhand’s Rishikesh, was killed on September 18, 2022. Resort owner Pulkit Arya, son of former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Vinod Arya, and two accomplices were convicted in the case and sentenced to life imprisonment.

After party members staged a protest in Gangtok on Saturday (October 17, 2026), State Congress president Gopal Chhetri cited reports and said the resort owner forced Bhandari to provide “sexual service” to a VIP.

“She went missing after refusing to do so and was found dead in a drain four days later. The resort owner and two employees were sentenced in 2025, but the issue of the VIP guest expected [Ankita was asked to provide service to] remains unresolved,” he said.

“Pressure mounted on the Uttarakhand government when Ankita’s family and social activists brought up the name of a particular leader. The government allowed a CBI inquiry, which commenced in February. Dushyant Gautam’s name has become a subject of nationwide discussion since,” Mr Chhetri said.

Questioning the BJP for appointing Mr Gautam as Sikkim’s Governor while the investigation is ongoing, the State Congress president said there was no justification in giving a significant responsibility to a person whose name surfaced in the controversy.

He also cited the protest started by Bhandari’s parents at India Gate on October 14, two days after Mr. Gautam was appointed as Sikkim’s Governor. “They demanded that he should be removed from the post until the CBI enquiry into his alleged involvement in the September 2022 incident is completed,” he said.

“By appointing a person with a tainted reputation as the Governor of Sikkim, the BJP has shown that it takes corrupt, tainted individuals and alleged rapists, puts them through a washing machine and cleans them up,” Mr. Chettri said.

The SDF described Mr. Gautam’s appointment as an “insult” to women in Sikkim.

Komal Chamling, in charge of the SDF women’s wing, said the party stood with Bhandari’s parents and urged President Murmu to withdraw Mr Gautam’s appointment as the State Governor.

She asked whether the Centre believed the Sikkimese people would accept decisions imposed on them without raising their voices. She also expressed concern over the implications of the appointment in a geopolitically sensitive border State.

Ms. Chamling also noted the frequent changes in the gubernatorial post. “Sikkim has seen four Governors in the past seven years,” she said.