Harish Rawat Steps Down From Congress Posts After ED Raid On Former PA, Says 'Party Must Not Suffer'

Dehradun: Political turmoil has intensified in Uttarakhand before the 2027 assembly elections. Senior Congress leader and former Chief Minister Harish Rawat has announced his resignation from two important posts of the party. His decision has come after the action of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in the case related to his former PA and close associate Chandan Singh Jeena.

Harish Rawat issued a long statement on social media saying that he does not want such a situation if Congress's anti-corruption campaign gets harmed due to any controversy related to him or any of his actions. For this reason he has decided to step down from both posts.

What was recovered in the ED action?

The ED action came in a case related to alleged irregularities in the 2016 Gram Panchayat Development Officer recruitment examination of UKSSSC. According to the agency, Rs 32 lakh in cash was recovered from the residence of Chandan Singh Jeena.

Apart from this, about 200 grams of gold was also found, which included 13 gold coins and 7 gold chains. During the search, 12 expensive watches of companies like Rolex, Rado, Piaget, Movado, Tissot and Casio Edifice are also said to have been recovered.

ED has also frozen the bank accounts of Jeena and her family members under PMLA. Information about deposits of more than Rs 52.16 lakh in these accounts has come to light. Jeena's mobile phone was also confiscated for investigation.

According to ED, the total value of seized and frozen assets is around Rs 1.28 crore.

Why did Harish Rawat resign?

Harish Rawat said in his statement that Chandan Singh Jeena has worked with him in different capacities for a long time. He said that the entire truth of the matter will come out after investigation.

Rawat said that if the allegations of tampering of OMR sheets or any other irregularities in the recruitment of Gram Sevaks are proved true, he would feel embarrassed by it. However, he said that at present he does not believe these allegations.

He made it clear that he does not want any weakness in the anti-corruption struggle of the Congress because of him. For this reason, he decided to step down from the post of executive member of Uttarakhand Pradesh Congress Committee and permanent invitee member of Congress Working Committee.

Did Rawat accuse you of creating 'narrative' before the elections?

The former Chief Minister also mentioned the upcoming assembly elections in his statement. He alleged that an attempt was being made to create a political narrative before the elections through the action taken at the house of one of his associates.

Rawat said that a lot is at stake in the upcoming elections of Uttarakhand. He also said that the Congress Party and its workers are fighting against corruption and because of them no question should be raised on this struggle.

What clarification did Rawat give on the recruitment scam?

Referring to the formation of UKSSSC, Harish Rawat said that its objective was to improve the recruitment process keeping in mind the future of the youth of the state. He claimed that during his tenure of about three years, recruitment was done on more than 42 thousand government posts.

He said that if there was any mistake or wrong decision in that process, then he apologises to the people of Uttarakhand for the same.

What did Rawat say on the appointment of former officers?

Rawat said that the officers who were given important responsibilities were appointed on the basis of service records available at that time. He said that it is not possible to predict the future conduct of a person in advance.

Giving an example, he said that no organisation can know that after getting the responsibility, a person will get embroiled in some controversy in future. Similarly, the government also cannot predict the future behaviour of every officer.

What did Rawat say about the investigating agencies?

Harish Rawat said that any irregularities in recruitment and examination are playing with the future of the youth of the state. He said that if he has done anything knowingly or unknowingly which has harmed the future of the youth, then he is ready to apologise for it.

He publicly appealed that if anyone has any concrete evidence related to his involvement in the recruitment cases, they should be handed over to CBI, ED or the state police. Rawat said that if he has committed any mistake then the law should punish him.