DEHRADUN: Senior Congress leader Harish Rawat on Saturday announced his decision to step down from all party posts after the Enforcement Directorate recovered cash and jewellery from his personal assistant’s house.
The former Uttarakhand chief minister said he took the decision to ensure that the party’s campaign ahead of the assembly elections due early next year is not affected.
A dozen luxury wristwatches and Rs 32 lakh in cash were seized from the premises of Chandan Singh Jeena during the ED raids undertaken on Thursday. Jeena is currently Rawat’s personal assistant and had earlier served as an officer on special duty during the Congress leader’s tenure as chief minister during 2014-17.
The ED said that the raids were conducted as part of a money laundering investigation linked to alleged irregularities in a 2016 exam conducted by the state service selection commission.
In a social media post in Hindi, Rawat said that while he did not believe the allegations of irregularities in recruitment exams levelled against Jeena, who has long been his associate, he absolutely did not want the issue to weaken the party’s campaign.
“Shri Jeena is an extremely decent, humble, and hardworking person. If there is evidence that he tampered with OMR sheets during the recruitment of village development officers or committed any such error, then I am ashamed of this alleged audacious act. However, I do not believe these allegations at all,” Rawat said.
Rawat said the Congress and its workers were united in the fight against corruption and that Rahul Gandhi was raising his voice against corruption in the education system through the ‘Chhatron Ki Goonj’ programme.
“Therefore, I have taken a major decision… I am a member of the Uttarakhand Pradesh Congress Committee’s executive body and a permanent invitee to the Congress Working Committee at the national level. I wish to step down from both these positions very humbly, as the party’s struggle should not suffer any setback because of me,” Rawat said.
The Congress leader said it would be known in due course of time whether a large amount of cash and jewellery had actually been recovered from Jeena’s premises and under what circumstances.
“The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) usually comes knocking at my door during election times, but this time, an attempt has been made to create a narrative by knocking at the home of one of my associates,” Rawat said.
The former Union minister also reiterated his claim that more than 42,000 government jobs were filled during his three-year tenure as chief minister.
On the Uttarakhand Subordinate Services Selection Commission, Rawat said he had sought the resignation of its then chairman RBS Rawat after receiving complaints against him.
He said the appointment had been made based on the individual’s past service record and upon the recommendation of the late former Chief Minister Bhuwan Chandra Khanduri, who had met him twice regarding the matter.
Describing irregularities in appointments and examinations as playing with the future of the coming generations, Rawat said that if he had knowingly or unknowingly committed any act that adversely affected the future of the state’s youth, he considered himself deserving of punishment.
He apologised to the people of Uttarakhand for any such lapse and appealed to anyone having evidence of his involvement or interference in appointments to provide it to the CBI, ED, or state police.
“Anyone entrusted with a major responsibility must always resist such despicable temptations. If I have committed such a lapse, I reiterate that I consider myself liable for punishment, and the law ought to punish me,” Rawat said.
