Former Congress CM of Uttarakhand Harish Rawat booked by CBI in horse-trading case

Former Uttarakhand CM Harish Rawat, image via Amar Ujala

The CBI has filed an FIR against former Uttarakhand CM Harish Rawat for indulging in a horse-trading case.

On September 30, the Uttarakhand High Court had allowed the CBI to file an FIR against the Congress leader after the preliminary enquiry report was submitted by the CBI to the court.

Rawat was seen in a 2016 video allegedly negotiating a deal to but the support of rebel MLAs who had switched to the BJP so that he could get back to power.

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The CBI FIR mentions former CM Harish Rawat, former cabinet minister Harak Rawat, and Umesh Sharma, the editor and CEO of Samachar Plus newspaper and other unknown persons.

CBI FIR against Harish Rawat

The video had surfaced after the Rawat government failed the floor test in 2016 and the state was under president’s rule.

Read: Uttarakhand – How politics may shape up after Congress’ comeback

Harish Rawat’s government, after it came back to power again later, had proposed that the CBI case should be withdrawn and a state SIT probe be initiated. But the central government had turned down the proposal.

OpIndia Staff: Staff reporter at OpIndia