JMM leader Manoj Pandey backs Harish Rawats resignation, calls it proof of innocence

Rawat resigned from all his Congress posts after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) recovered cash and gold from his personal assistant during an action on Friday.

Reacting to Rawats resignation, Pandey said the Congress leader had taken an excellent step and suggested that the development should be viewed in the context of the approaching election season.

This is proof of his innocence. The election season is approaching. Next year, elections are due in many states, Pandey said.

He further alleged that the central government and its agencies become unusually active ahead of elections.

The central governments tactic is that before elections, they and their agencies become unusually active, Pandey said.

The JMM leader said he believed Rawat had taken the right decision by stepping down from all party positions following the ED action involving his aide.

In my view, Harish Rawat has taken an excellent step, Pandey said.

Harish Rawat stepped down from two Congress posts on Friday after a large amount of cash, jewellery and other valuables were recovered by the Enforcement Directorate from the possession of his PA, Chandan Singh Jeena. Rawat said the facts of the matter would become clear in due course.

The former CM was a member of the Uttarakhand Pradesh Congress Committee executive and a permanent invitee to the Congress Working Committee at the national level.

Rawat said he did not want any action or conduct on his part to weaken the partys ongoing fight. Therefore, after remembering my Isht Devta, I have taken a major decision. I am not holding any government post, so there is no question of resigning from one. 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. I would like to respectfully step down from both these positions, because I do not want the partys struggle to be weakened in any way because of me, he said.

ED on Friday said it conducted searches at multiple locations in Dehradun in connection with alleged large-scale irregularities in the Uttarakhand Subordinate Service Selection Commission (UKSSSC) Gram Panchayat Vikas Adhikari (VPDO) Examination, 2016, recovering Rs 32 lakh in unaccounted cash, gold and luxury watches from the residence of Chandan Singh Jeena, presently serving as Personal Assistant to former Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Singh Rawat.

Rawat acknowledged that Jeena had served as his OSD and had handled important responsibilities during the various positions he held, both in the party and in government. Describing Jeena as a very decent, humble and hardworking person, Rawat said, If he tampered with OMR sheets during the recruitment of Gram Sevaks, 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." (ANI)