Harish Rawat, a senior Congress leader and former chief minister of Uttarakhand, has denied reports regarding his resignation from party positions. On Saturday, he clarified that his recent social media post was misinterpreted. Rawat stated he would consider stepping down only if the Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) actions against his personal assistant, Chandan Singh Jeena, compromised Congress’ integrity in its fight against corruption.
“Shri Jeena is an extremely decent, humble, and hardworking person. If there is evidence that he tampered with OMR sheets during the recruitment of village development officers or committed any such error, then I am ashamed of this alleged audacious act. “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, having just remembered my beloved deity, I have taken a major decision: I am not on any government position, so what resignation would I tender from that!” Jeena is currently Rawat’s personal assistant and had earlier worked as an officer on special duty (OSD) when Rawat was Uttarakhand chief minister from 2014 to 2017. 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, Rawat said Congress membership runs through his “blood and bones”, while calling the recent ED searches in Dehradun as a “hypocritical spectacle”. In a post on X, 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. However, I do not believe these allegations at all,” Rawat said.
Earlier reporting noted: Harish Rawat clarifies he hasn’t quit Congress posts, but may resign over ED action Senior Congress leader and former Uttarakhand chief minister Harish Rawat on Saturday clarified that he has not resigned from any party post , saying he would be willing to step down from the positions he holds if Enforcement Directorate (ED) actions undermine the Congress’s narrative of fighting corruption.
“Yes, if the ED’s hypocritical circus that happened in Dehradun yesterday or the day before has any impact on the narrative of fighting against corruption in the Congress Party, then the positions I hold in the party—member of the state executive and member of the AICC working committee—I would want to resign from those positions,” he added. Earlier reporting noted: In a social media post, Rawat said Congress membership runs through his “blood and bones”, describing it as central to his identity and something that would remain with him even in the afterlife. Earlier reporting noted: Referring to the recent ED searches in Dehradun as a “hypocritical spectacle”, the former chief minister said he did not want any of his actions to weaken the party’s struggle against corruption.
