Harish Rawat quits Congress posts after cash, gold haul

Former Uttarakhand Chief Minister and Congress leader Harish Rawat has tendered his resignation from the Uttarakhand Pradesh Congress Committee and a permanent invitee member of the Congress Working Committee at the national level on Saturday (September 12, 2026) after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) recovered cash, jewellery and other valuables from the possession of his PA, Chandan Singh Jeena.

Taking it to X after the ED raid, Mr. Rawat said, “I have taken a major decision: I am not (in) any government position, so what resignation would I tender from that! Yes, 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.”

The ED on Friday (September 11) said it conducted searches linked to the 2016 VPDO exam case, seizing ₹32 lakh, gold, and luxury watches from Harish Rawat’s PA. It seized an “unaccounted” sum of ₹32 lakh, 13 gold coins and seven gold chains weighing about 200.5 gm, and 12 luxury wristwatches of expensive brands from Chandan Singh Jeena’s premises.