Rawat resigned as a member of the Uttarakhand Pradesh Congress Committee executive and as a permanent invitee to the Congress Working Committee at the national level.
Former Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat on Friday stepped down from key Congress posts after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) recovered unaccounted cash, gold and luxury watches after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) during raid at his personal assistant, Chandan Singh Jeena’s residence, in connection with a money laundering case.
Rawat resigned as a member of the Uttarakhand Pradesh Congress Committee executive and as a permanent invitee to the Congress Working Committee at the national level.
In a long post on X, Rawat said that he did not want any action or conduct on his part to weaken the Congress’ ongoing fight against corruption. He said he had taken the decision after remembering his “Isht Devta”.
“I have just remembered my revered deity and taken a major decision. I am not holding any government position from which I could resign. However, I am a member of the Executive Committee of the Uttarakhand Pradesh Congress Committee and a permanent invitee member of the Congress Working Committee at the national level. I would like to step down from both these positions very humbly, because there should be no weakness in the party’s struggle because of me,” he said.
Rawat said Jeena had served as his Officer on Special Duty (OSD) and handled important responsibilities during his tenure as chief minister from 2014 to 2017. He described Jeena as a “very decent, humble and hardworking person” but said that if allegations against him were proved, he would be ashamed of the alleged wrongdoing.
“It is true that Mr. Gina has been my OSD, and in whatever positions I have served—whether in the party or in government—he has shouldered important responsibilities. Mr. Gina 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. However, I have absolutely no faith in this allegation,” he said.