Former Uttarakhand chief minister Harish Rawat has offered to step down from two Congress positions following an Enforcement Directorate (ED) raid on his personal assistant in a money laundering investigation linked to alleged irregularities in a 2016 recruitment examination.
Rawat said on Saturday that he was willing to leave his position as a member of the Uttarakhand Pradesh Congress Committee executive and as a permanent invitee to the Congress Working Committee at the national level. He said he did not want the ongoing controversy to weaken the party’s campaign against corruption.
The development came a day after the ED searched several premises linked to Rawat’s personal assistant, Chandan Singh Jeena. According to the agency, the searches resulted in the seizure of ₹32 lakh in cash and around a dozen luxury wristwatches.
Jeena is currently working as Rawat’s personal assistant. He had earlier served as an officer on special duty during Rawat’s tenure as Uttarakhand chief minister between 2014 and 2017.
Addressing the issue, Rawat clarified that he had not resigned from any government position because he does not currently hold one. However, he said he was ready to relinquish his two organisational positions in the Congress to ensure that his association with the matter did not affect the party’s political campaign.
Rawat also alleged that the ED action against his aide was politically motivated and linked to the Uttarakhand Assembly elections scheduled next year. The Congress leader maintained that the investigation should not be allowed to undermine the party’s stand on corruption.
The ED searches were conducted under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act at multiple locations in Dehradun. The agency also searched premises linked to people associated with the Uttarakhand Subordinate Service Selection Commission (UKSSSC), including its former officials, a private computer agency involved in processing OMR sheets and alleged middlemen.
The investigation relates to four FIRs registered by the Uttarakhand Police and Vigilance Bureau over alleged irregularities in the Gram Panchayat Vikas Adhikari examination conducted by UKSSSC in 2016.
According to the ED, answer sheets were allegedly diverted from the commission’s secure custody to the residence of its then secretary. The agency alleged that roll numbers of partially filled OMR sheets were recorded and passed to personnel of a private computer agency, who allegedly altered the answer bubbles in exchange for illegal payments routed through intermediaries.
The ED investigation is continuing, while Rawat’s offer to step down from the two Congress positions has added a new political dimension to the case ahead of the Uttarakhand polls.
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