Dislodged Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat on Sunday landed on the wrong foot after his tirade against his Cabinet colleague-turned-foe Harak Singh Rawat led him to admit there was corruption in his Government which he failed to rein in.
Accusing the Centre of engineering defections in Congress in Uttarakhand by taking advantage of a “money greedy Minister” and rebel like Harak Singh Rawat and the wounded political ambition of former CM Vijay Bahuguna to dislodge his Government, Rawat said, “Most upsetting was that I had to make compromise with such a leader (Harak Singh Rawat) who used to value money above everything.”
Rawat said that the fact that the State Government decided to bring legislation to seize unnamed properties only stimulated the process. “Harak Singh ji came to me twice and asked me not to bring legislation to seize unnamed properties,” he added.
“Despite the fact that Uttarakhand gave five MPs to BJP-led Government at the Centre, it chose to give the State the “gifts” of defection and President’s Rule. I would go to the people of the State and ask them whether what they have been handed is what they were looking for,” he said. Rawat also targeted the private news channel whose editor-in-chief had done the sting operation on him saying the huge amount of wealth allegedly amassed by him should be looked into.