Harish Rawat steps down from two Congress posts after ED searches

The agency said it recovered ₹32 lakh in unaccounted cash, along with gold and luxury watches, from the residence of Chandan Singh Jeena, currently serving as personal assistant to Rawat.

Rawat's statement

Rawat framed the decision as a step taken to protect the party rather than an admission of anything.

"I am not holding any government post, so there is no question of resigning from one," he said. "However, I am a member of the Uttarakhand Pradesh Congress Committee executive and a permanent invitee to the Congress Working Committee at the national level."

He said he wished to step down from both "because I do not want the party's struggle to be weakened in any way because of me". He added that the facts of the matter would become clear in due course.

On his aide

Rawat acknowledged that Jeena had served as his officer on special duty and had handled significant responsibilities across the positions Rawat held in the party and in government. He described Jeena as a "very decent, humble and hardworking person".

On the allegation itself, Rawat drew a distinction between what he would condemn and what he accepts. "If he tampered with OMR sheets during the recruitment of Gram Sevaks," he said, "and if there is evidence to prove that he committed any such wrongdoing, I am ashamed of such an alleged audacious act." "However, I do not believe this allegation at all."

Jeena has not been reported as having responded publicly, and the agency's recovery is at the stage of a search rather than a charge.

Rawat's reading of the timing

Rawat linked the searches to the approaching state election, and said so directly.

He recalled that when asked when the polls would be held, "I would jokingly say that the elections would take place when the CBI knocked on my door." He added: "If it has not come yet, it means the elections will be held in March-April next year."

"However, this time, instead of knocking on my door, an attempt has been made to knock on the door of one of my associates," he said, "and create a narrative."

That is Rawat's characterisation. The Enforcement Directorate described the searches as part of an investigation into the 2016 recruitment examination, and has not commented on the political timing.

He said the Congress and its workers were united in a fight against corruption, and referred to the party's Students Ki Goonj programme, through which he said Rahul Gandhi was raising the issue of corruption in the education system nationally.

The commission at the centre of it

Asked about the functioning of the Uttarakhand Subordinate Service Selection Commission, Rawat defended the body's creation and his government's record on recruitment.

The commission was set up with the future of the state's youth in mind, he said, adding that his government had compelled the Public Service Commission to hold examinations on time and had constituted recruitment boards including a medical recruitment board and an education recruitment board.

"If there was any error of judgement on our part during this process in relation to appointments, I apologise to the people of Uttarakhand," he said, while maintaining that more than 42,000 government posts were filled during his three-year tenure.

On the commission's chairman, Rawat said the appointment had been made on the basis of the individual's previous service record, and that he had himself removed the chairman or sought his resignation after complaints were received. "Whatever terminology one may use, I took action against him after receiving complaints," he said.

Where this stands

The UKSSSC examination of 2016 is the subject of the Enforcement Directorate's investigation, and the searches in Dehradun are part of it. No charge has been brought against Rawat, who holds no government office. The positions he has given up are internal party roles.

Uttarakhand goes to the polls next year.