BJP National General Secretary Dushyant Kumar Gautam has secured interim relief from the Delhi High Court in a defamation suit, with the court directing the Congress, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), and other defendants to take down posts on social media that allegedly linked him to the 2022 murder of Ankita Bhandari. Gautam welcomed the order, calling it a vindication of his stance.

Reacting to the ruling, Gautam said opposition parties were using the case to target the BJP politically, as they lacked substantive issues to challenge the party. He claimed the Congress and AAP repeatedly invoked the Ankita Bhandari case to defame him personally and harm the party’s image, rather than focusing on governance or policy matters.

The controversy reignited after television actor Urmila Sanawar accused Gautam of being the unidentified “VIP” allegedly connected to the case in December 2025. Gautam strongly denied the allegation, stating that he was not in Uttarakhand at the time of the crime and that the claims were politically motivated and defamatory.

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Gautam said the social media posts had caused serious harm to his reputation and distressed him personally. He filed a ₹2 crore defamation suit, submitting evidence to prove his innocence. “Truth always prevails. Justice will be served,” he said, reiterating his confidence in the judicial process.

The BJP leader alleged that the allegations were part of a larger strategy by the Congress to undermine his party politically. He described Sanawar and former BJP MLA Suresh Rathore, who was suspended from the party, as tools allegedly used by opposition parties to target him and BJP leadership.

The Ankita Bhandari case originally involved the murder of the 19-year-old receptionist at Vanantara Resort, Rishikesh. While initial investigations raised questions about a VIP’s involvement, the chargesheet did not include this angle. In May 2025, a trial court convicted Pulkit Arya, son of a former BJP leader, and two others, sentencing them to life imprisonment. Gautam has maintained that he is being unfairly dragged into a politically charged narrative.

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