Harish Rawat Quits Congress Posts After ED Raid

• Rawat resigned from the Uttarakhand Congress executive and CWC permanent invitee post
• ED recovered ₹32 lakh cash, 200.5 grams of gold and 12 luxury watches
• Jeena is Rawat’s current PA and earlier served as his OSD from 2014–17
• Probe relates to alleged irregularities in the 2016 UKSSSC Gram Panchayat Vikas Adhikari exam

GG News Bureau
Dehradun, 12th Sept: Former Uttarakhand Chief Minister and senior Congress leader Harish Rawat has resigned from two organisational positions in the party following Enforcement Directorate (ED) searches at the premises of his personal assistant, Chandan Singh Jeena, in a money-laundering investigation linked to alleged irregularities in a 2016 recruitment examination conducted by the Uttarakhand Subordinate Service Selection Commission (UKSSSC).

Rawat announced that he would step down as a member of the Uttarakhand Pradesh Congress Committee executive and as a permanent invitee to the Congress Working Committee. He said he did not want the controversy involving an associate to weaken the Congress’s fight against corruption.

The ED conducted searches at multiple locations in Dehradun on September 10, including premises linked to former UKSSSC officials, the owner of a private computer agency involved in processing OMR sheets and alleged middlemen. From Jeena’s residence, the agency reported recovering ₹32 lakh in unaccounted cash, around 200.5 grams of gold and 12 luxury watches.

The seized gold included 13 coins and seven chains. The watches included brands such as Rolex, Rado, Piaget, Movado, Tissot and Casio Edifice. The ED also froze bank accounts belonging to Jeena and family members containing ₹52.16 lakh and seized Jeena’s mobile phone for forensic examination.

The money-laundering investigation stems from FIRs registered by the Uttarakhand Police and Vigilance Bureau over alleged irregularities in the 2016 Gram Panchayat Vikas Adhikari examination. According to the ED, OMR answer sheets were allegedly removed from secure custody and taken to the residence of the then UKSSSC secretary, where roll numbers of under-filled sheets were recorded and allegedly passed to employees of a private computer agency for manipulation before the sheets were resealed. The agency has alleged that illegal payments were routed through intermediaries in return for the manipulation.

Jeena is currently serving as Rawat’s personal assistant and had earlier served as his officer on special duty when Rawat was Chief Minister between 2014 and 2017.

Reacting to the ED action, Rawat acknowledged his long association with Jeena but said he found it difficult to believe the allegations against him. He said that if evidence established that Jeena had tampered with OMR sheets in the recruitment examination, he would be ashamed of such conduct, while maintaining that he did not believe the allegation.

Rawat said Uttarakhand politics was entering an election phase and that attempts were being made to create a narrative against him. He added that the Congress and its workers were fighting corruption and that any controversy linked to him should not weaken that campaign.

“Therefore, I have taken a major decision,” Rawat said, announcing his resignation from the two organisational responsibilities. The ED investigation remains underway.