Harish Rawat steps down from Congress posts after cash, gold recovered from his PA

Dehradun: Senior Congress leader Harish Rawat on Saturday announced his decision to step down from all party posts 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.

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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. 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.

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In a social media post, 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.

"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.He noted that the Congress and its workers are mobilising to fight against corruption:"At the national level, Rahul Gandhi is raising his voice against the corruption plaguing the education system through the 'Chhatron Ki Goonj' programme.