ED action rattles Congress in poll-bound Uttarakhand, Harish Rawat aide under scanner
Dehradun: The Enforcement Directorate’s intensified action in the 2016 UKSSSC Gram Panchayat Vikas Adhikari examination case has created fresh political unease within the Congress in poll-bound Uttarakhand, with the agency’s search at the residence of former Chief Minister Harish Rawat’s close aide Chandan Singh Jeena bringing the old recruitment controversy back into the political spotlight.
The ED conducted searches at multiple locations in Dehradun on September 10 under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), targeting premises linked to former UKSSSC officials, a private computer agency owner, alleged middlemen and Jeena. The agency is probing alleged manipulation of OMR answer sheets and the suspected laundering of illegal gratification in the 2016 examination.
At Jeena’s residence, the ED said it recovered unaccounted cash, gold and luxury watches. The total value of assets seized or frozen at his premises was put at around ₹1.28 crore, excluding the value of the luxury watches, which was still being assessed.
Jeena is currently working as Harish Rawat’s personal assistant and had served as his Officer on Special Duty during Rawat’s tenure as Chief Minister. The direct association with the former Chief Minister has given the ED action an immediate political dimension, although the agency’s investigation concerns alleged irregularities in the recruitment examination and does not by itself establish wrongdoing by Rawat.
The development has already had political consequences. Harish Rawat offered to step down from two Congress organisational positions, saying he did not want anything involving him to weaken the party’s political fight. He has also defended Jeena and rejected the allegations against his aide.
The timing has added to the sensitivity within Congress as the party steps up its campaign ahead of the Uttarakhand Assembly elections. Congress has been planning rallies involving senior national leaders including Mallikarjun Kharge, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi, making the ED action involving a former Chief Minister’s close aide an issue likely to remain under political scrutiny.
For the Congress, the immediate concern is not only the recovery of cash and other valuables but also whether the investigation expands to additional individuals, financial trails or alleged beneficiaries. The ED’s probe is continuing, and any further findings could widen the political fallout from a recruitment controversy dating back a decade.
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