New Delhi: Former Uttarakhand chief minister Harish Rawat Saturday said he was stepping down from his organisational positions in the Congress after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) searched the premises of his former OSD and current personal assistant Chandan Singh Jeena. Rawat was an executive member of the Uttarakhand Pradesh Congress Committee and a permanent invitee to the Congress Working Committee
The ED found Rs 32 lakh in cash, around 200.5 grams of gold in coins and chains, and 12 luxury watches from Jeena’s residence. It also froze Rs 52.16 lakh in bank accounts belonging to Jeena and his family. The raids were conducted as part of the agency’s probe into alleged irregularities in a 2016 examination conducted by the state service selection commission.
Announcing his decision on X, Rawat said that Congress and its members were fighting corruption and he did not want his actions to introduce any “weakness in the party’s struggle”.
At the same time, Rawat questioned the timing of the ED action, calling it a “coded strategy” ahead of the Uttarakhand assembly elections. He alleged that the probe was intended to divert attention from the Congress’s campaign against corruption, saying public opinion was increasingly aligning with the party over the issue.
Rawat also defended Jeena without giving him a clean chit. “Shri Jeena is an utterly noble, humble, and hardworking individual. If there has been any tampering with the OMR sheets in the recruitment of gram sevaks, and if there is any evidence of such a mistake on his part, then I am ashamed of this so-called audacious act of his,” he said. However, he added that he had “absolutely no faith” in the allegations against Jeena, who had served as an officer on special duty during the Congress leader’s tenure as chief minister during 2014-17.
Rawat acknowledged that the recruitment process was a matter of serious concern, particularly as it involved the future of the state’s youth. He said that if any wrongdoing had occurred during his tenure, he would take responsibility for any error of judgement.
He said his government had set up the Subordinate Service Selection Commission and several recruitment boards, and had pushed the Public Service Commission to conduct examinations on time. “If there has been any error of judgment on our part in the appointments during that process, then I seek forgiveness from the people of Uttarakhand for it,” wrote the former chief minister.
Rawat challenged anyone with evidence of his involvement in interfering with appointments or examinations to submit it to the CBI, ED or state police. “If any individual has evidence of my involvement in interfering in matters of such appointments, they should certainly provide those proofs to the CBI, ED, or state police,” he said.
He also said he should be held accountable if it was established that he had knowingly or unknowingly harmed the interests of the state’s youth. “If, knowingly or unknowingly, any such act has happened on my part that has adversely affected the future of our state’s youth, then I consider myself deserving of torment for it, and I seek forgiveness from the people of the state for this lapse,” Rawat said. He added, “I consider myself deserving of punishment, and the law should punish me.”
Rawat later clarified that his decision did not amount to quitting the Congress, after reports suggested that he had resigned from the party. He said he was only stepping down from the organisational positions he held. “Congress party membership is in my blood and bones; it shapes everything that Harish Rawat is,” he said.
At a press conference, Rawat described the matter as a “political controversy” and said he would continue to fight for the truth and the interests of Uttarakhand.
(Edited by Chingkheinganbi Mayengbam)
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