Dalit organisations question Congress’s commitment to social justice over Ankita Bhandari case

New Delhi: Dalit organisations and groups representing Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe employees have questioned the Congress party’s commitment to social justice, arguing that its intervention in the Ankita Bhandari case and the participation of senior party leaders in the India Gate protest raise questions about the consistency of its political position.

In an open letter dated 15 October addressed to the Congress leadership, the organisations questioned whether social justice was a consistent principle guiding the party or a political instrument invoked when it served its interests. The letter argues that constitutional morality and social justice should not become tools of political convenience.

The organisations that have expressed concern are the SAIL SC & ST Employees Federation, New Delhi; the Dr B.R. Ambedkar Volleyball Club, Hyderabad; the SC Hakkula Porata Sangam, Telangana; the NBCC SC/ST Employees Welfare Association, New Delhi; and the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Retired Employees Association, Bhopal.

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Ankita Bhandari, a 19-year-old receptionist at the Vanantara resort in Uttarakhand’s Pauri Garhwal district, was murdered in September 2022. Her body was recovered from a canal after she went missing. Resort owner Pulkit Arya, son of former BJP leader Vinod Arya, and two employees, Saurabh Bhaskar and Ankit Gupta, were convicted in the case and sentenced to life imprisonment in May 2025.