Harish Rawat Quits Key Congress Posts After Aide’s Cash, Watches Seizure in Uttarakhand

Former Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat has resigned from two key Congress positions.

After the Enforcement Directorate (ED) seized cash, gold and luxury watches from the residence of his personal assistant, Chandan Singh Jeena. The ED conducted searches at multiple locations in Dehradun on Friday as part of an investigation into alleged irregularities in a 2016 state-level recruitment examination.

Harish Rawat Resigns From Congress Posts

Rawat announced that he was stepping down as a member of the Uttarakhand Pradesh Congress Committee executive and as a permanent invitee to the Congress Working Committee. Explaining his decision, the Congress veteran said he did not want the controversy surrounding his aide to weaken the party’s campaign against corruption.

“I am a member of the executive 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 no weakness should come into the party’s struggle on my account,” Rawat said.

Rawat Defends Aide, Questions Allegations

Rawat described Jeena as an “honest” and “hard-working” person and suggested that the action against his aide could be linked to the upcoming Uttarakhand Assembly election. At the same time, Rawat said he would accept responsibility if evidence established that Jeena had been involved in wrongdoing.

“If he tampered with OMR sheets in the Gram Sevak recruitment examination and there is evidence of such wrongdoing, then I am ashamed of this alleged act. However, I do not believe this allegation at all,” Rawat said.

During the searches, the ED reportedly recovered Rs 32 lakh in cash, along with gold coins, gold chains and 12 luxury watches from Jeena’s residence. The ED action comes months ahead of the Uttarakhand Assembly election, which is expected to be held in the early months of 2027.