By Shishir Prashant 
PrashantNews
Senior Congress leader and former Uttarakhand chief minister Harish Rawat has appeared before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with a case involving alleged irregularities in a 2016 recruitment examination and accused governments of acting with a sense of political vendetta.
Emerging from the ED office after around five hours of questioning on Saturday, Rawat described his experience as “somewhat sweet, thrilling and somewhat disappointing” and alleged that government agencies were being used for political purposes.
“Straightforwardly speaking, it is not the ED office that has called me. It is the government in power, its arrogance and its election concerns that have called me,” Rawat told reporters.
He questioned how the country could function if governments acted with a spirit of revenge. “We are not worried about ourselves; we are concerned about the country and society,” he said.
Asked what transpired during the five-hour questioning, Rawat said the interaction had been “very affectionate” and that he had also made the ED officials aware of the “reality of their masters”.
Uttarakhand Congress president Ganesh Godiyal, who accompanied Rawat, alleged that before elections the BJP tries to intimidate political leaders through agencies such as the ED, CBI and Income Tax Department, either to bring them into its fold or silence them. He said Rawat had been summoned in connection with a case dating back nearly a decade ahead of the upcoming elections and termed it a sign of the BJP’s “desperation”.
Before appearing before the agency, Rawat arrived at the ED office wearing a photograph of his mother around his neck, with the word “Maa” inscribed on it. In a social media video, he said he had sought the blessings of his mother, Maa Jagdamba and Mother Earth before appearing before the agency.
“I have not called anyone. I have brought only my mother with me,” he said.
The ED action relates to alleged irregularities in the Village Panchayat Development Officer (VPDO) recruitment examination conducted by the Uttarakhand Subordinate Service Selection Commission (UKSSSC) in 2016. The agency had recently conducted searches at the residence of Rawat’s former Officer on Special Duty (OSD), Chandan Singh Jeena, where cash and jewellery were reportedly recovered.
In another social media post, Rawat said he had received the ED notice two days earlier and had been asked to appear in connection with the 2016 case. He said the agency had sought several documents, including his old income-tax returns and documents relating to properties owned by him and his family members.
Questioning the scope of the demand, Rawat said it was unclear who all were included in the term “family”, adding that he had a large extended family and that some of his daughters were already married. He questioned how all the required documents could be collected within such a short period.
Earlier this month, following the ED searches at Jeena’s residence, Rawat had announced his decision to resign from all organisational posts in the Congress.