Harish Rawat has resigned from his posts at the state Congress Committee and the Congress Working Committee, after a large amount of cash and jewellery were seized from his OSD Chandan Singh Jeena
DEHRADUN — Senior Congress leader and former Uttarakhand Chief Minister, Harish Rawat, on Saturday resigned from his posts at the state Congress Committee and the Congress Working Committee, after a large amount of cash and jewellery were seized from his OSD Chandan Singh Jeena, saying that he didn't "want his action to weaken the party's struggle", while denying allegations of any wrongdoing by his aide.
The former Chief Minister announced his decision through a post on 'X', after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) raided the premises of his OSD 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).
Rawat said: "The news is currently airing on the TV in front of me that a large amount of cash, jewellery, and so on has been seized or caused to be seized from Harish Rawat's PA in Dehradun. The revelation of this fact will come in the times ahead, and it is true that Mr. Jeena has been my OSD, and in whatever positions I have served—whether in the party or in government—he has shouldered important responsibilities."
While referring to Jeena as a "humble and hardworking" individual, he said: "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."
Asserting that "high stakes" are involved in Uttarakhand Assembly polls, he said: "Congress Party and its workers are fighting united against corruption. Rahul Gandhi ji is raising his voice against the rampant corruption in the education system through the 'Chhatron ki Goonj' program."
Taking a potshot at the BJP-led Centre, he said: "Whenever anyone asked me when the elections would be held, I would jokingly tell them that it will happen when the CBI comes knocking at my door. If they haven't come yet, it means the elections will only be held next year in March-April. But this time, instead of knocking at my house, an attempt has been made to knock at the house of one of my associates and craft a narrative."
He further said: "At such a time, if any action of Harish Rawat introduces any weakness in the party's struggle, I would absolutely not want that. Therefore, I have taken a major decision. I am not holding any government post, so there is no question of resigning from there. However, I am an executive member of the Uttarakhand Pradesh Congress Committee and a permanent invitee member of the Congress Working Committee at the national level, and with utmost humility, I wish to step down from both these positions, because I do not want the party's struggle to be weakened in any way because of me."
Regarding the Subordinate Service Selection Commission, Harish Rawat said: "We formed it keeping in view the future of the state's youth. We compelled the Public Service Commission to conduct exams on time; in fact, during our short tenure, recruitments for top positions happened twice. We created recruitment boards, a medical recruitment board, an education recruitment board."
He stated that if there has been "any error of judgment on our part in the appointments during that process", then he would "seek forgiveness" from the people of Uttarakhand, while reiterating his claim that during the party's three-year tenure, "more than 42,000 recruitments were made for government positions".
Further, the senior Congress leader defended the appointment of the UKSSSC Chairman, saying he was appointed based on his past service record.
"Whatever terminology one may use, I took action against him after receiving complaints. His appointment was made on the basis of his previous service record. He belonged to a section of society whose representation I wanted to ensure," he said.
Rawat added that former Chief Minister Major General Bhuwan Chandra Khanduri (Retd.) had advised him regarding the appointment. "He came to me twice in connection with his appointment. Even today, I hold the view that Khanduri Ji always worked against corruption," he said.
The senior politician further said that there was no way to predict whether anyone appointed to a post would engage in wrongdoings.
"Could the RSS have known that the person they were appointing as the head of their environmental forum in Uttarakhand would engage in such corrupt acts—and end up disgraced as the chairman of the Subordinate Services Selection Commission?" he said.
Maintaining that irregularities in appointments and exams are nothing short of tampering with the future of the coming generations, the former Uttarakhand CM said: "If, knowingly or unknowingly, any such act has happened on my part that has adversely affected the future of our state's youth, then I consider myself deserving of torment for it, and I seek forgiveness from the people of the state for this lapse."
Moreover, Harish Rawat appealed that if any individual has evidence of his involvement in interfering in matters of such appointments, "they should certainly provide those proofs to the CBI, ED, or state police".
"Because every person who gets the opportunity to shoulder great responsibilities must always guard against such loathsome temptations, and if there has been any such lapse on my part, I repeat once again that I consider myself deserving of punishment, and the law should punish me," he said.