Congress leader quits party posts after ED finds cash, watches in aide's house

Senior Congress leader Harish Rawat stepped down from all party posts, days after the Enforcement Directorate recovered cash and jewellery from his personal assistant's house.

The former Uttarakhand chief minister said he took the decision to ensure that the party's campaign ahead of the assembly elections due early next year is not affected.

A dozen luxury wristwatches and Rs 32 lakh in cash were seized from the premises of Chandan Singh Jeena during the ED raids undertaken on Thursday, 10 September. Jeena is currently Rawat's personal assistant and had earlier served as an officer on special duty during the Congress leader's tenure as chief minister during 2014-17.

The ED said that the raids were conducted as part of a money laundering investigation linked to alleged irregularities in a 2016 exam conducted by the state service selection commission.

In a social media post in Hindi, Rawat said that while he did not believe the allegations of irregularities in recruitment exams levelled against Jeena, who has long been his associate, he absolutely did not want the issue to weaken the party's campaign.

Rawat said Congress and its workers were united in the fight against corruption and that Rahul Gandhi was raising his voice against corruption in the education system through the 'Chhatron Ki Goonj' programme.

"Therefore, I have taken a major decision... I am a member of the Uttarakhand Pradesh Congress Committee's executive body and a permanent invitee to the Congress Working Committee at the national level. I wish to step down from both these positions very humbly, as the party's struggle should not suffer any setback because of me," Rawat said.

The former Union minister also reiterated his claim that more than 42,000 government jobs were filled during his three-year tenure as chief minister.

On the Uttarakhand Subordinate Services Selection Commission, Rawat said he had sought the resignation of its then chairman RBS Rawat after receiving complaints against him.

Describing irregularities in appointments and examinations as playing with the future of the coming generations, Rawat said that if he had knowingly or unknowingly committed any act that adversely affected the future of the state's youth, he considered himself deserving of punishment.