Former Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat on Friday announced his resignation from two Congress positions after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) raided the premises of his personal assistant, Chandan Singh Jeena, in connection with a money laundering investigation linked to alleged irregularities in a 2016 recruitment examination conducted by the Uttarakhand Subordinate Service Selection Commission (UKSSSC).
Noting that he did not hold any government office from which he could resign, Rawat announced that he would step down from his organisational responsibilities in the Congress.
The ED said searches led to the seizure of Rs 32 lakh in unaccounted cash, gold coins and chains weighing about 200.5 grams (13 gold coins and 7 gold chains) and 12 luxury watches
“News is being shown on television that a large amount of cash and jewellery has been found or made to be found at the residence of my PA in Dehradun. The truth behind this will emerge in the coming days. “I am a member of the Uttarakhand Pradesh Congress Committee executive and a permanent invitee to the Congress Working Committee at the national level.
Rawat said he did not want any controversy involving a close associate to weaken the Congress party’s fight against corruption and therefore decided to step down as a member of the Uttarakhand Pradesh Congress Committee executive and as a permanent invitee to the Congress Working Committee. Because i do not want the party’s fight to suffer because of me,” he said, i wish to step down from both these positions with humility.
It is true that Mr Jeena served as my OSD and has held important responsibilities whenever I was in government or in the party,” he said. Rawat said the Congress and its workers were fighting corruption, while Rahul Gandhi was raising the issue of corruption in the education system through his ‘Chhatron Ki Goonj’ campaign.
