Former Cabinet Minister and senior Congress leader Harak Singh Rawat on Monday came out with a fresh claim in the long-running Jenny controversy that has once again stirred Uttarakhand politics. Addressing the media, Rawat said the name of the father of Jenny’s son is recorded as Bablu in the Doon Hospital records. He also referred to Bareilly while putting forward what he described as a new angle to the 23-year-old case.
The case first erupted in 2003 when Jenny, an unmarried woman from Assam also known as Indira Devi or Indira Dewri, gave birth to a boy at a government hospital in Dehradun on 15 June that year. She named the then Revenue Minister Harak Singh Rawat as the father and alleged sexual exploitation. The matter created a political storm. Rawat resigned from the cabinet. The then Chief Minister N.D. Tiwari ordered a CBI inquiry. A DNA test was conducted and, according to reports from that time, it did not match. Rawat received a clean chit and has maintained his innocence ever since, calling the allegations a conspiracy.
Jenny returned to Dehradun on Saturday after more than two decades and held a press conference at the Uttaranchal Press Club. She renewed her demand for a fresh CBI probe and a new DNA test. She said her son, now 23, has grown up without a father’s name and deserves to know the truth. She alleged she was 16 when a party worker took her from an STD booth in Yamuna Colony to Rawat’s residence, where she stayed for about one-and-a-half to two months. She claimed sexual assault took place, after which she was placed in a Nari Niketan under the pretext of hostel accommodation and later kept among mental patients. She questioned the earlier investigation, saying blood samples were never properly taken from her or her son and that CBI officials met her only once.
Rawat has rejected these fresh allegations. He has pointed to the earlier CBI clean chit and the court’s closure of the matter. He has accused the BJP of trying to divert attention from other issues ahead of the assembly elections and has threatened defamation cases against those he says are raking up the old controversy for political gain. On Monday he went a step further. He told reporters that the hospital record at Doon Hospital lists the father’s name as Bablu. He mentioned Bareilly in connection with the story he was placing before the media.
The claim adds another layer to a case that has refused to die. Jenny has said she wants nothing for herself—only justice and a name for her son. She has appealed to Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami and has submitted a written complaint to the police. Uttarakhand DGP Deepam Seth has ordered an investigation, assigning the matter to Circle Officer Doiwala Vandana Verma.
Political reactions have been sharp. BJP leaders have questioned Congress’s silence and asked why the party is not addressing the fresh allegations against one of its senior leaders. Congress has treated the revival of the case as a motivated attempt to shift focus from other controversies. The matter remains emotionally charged because a young man has spent his entire life without knowing his father’s identity, while the political class continues to trade charges.
Hospital records from 2003, the original CBI findings, and the statements made by both sides will now come under fresh scrutiny. Whether the name “Bablu” appears in any official document at Doon Hospital, and what connection if any exists with Bareilly, will have to be verified through proper channels. Until then, the claim remains just that—a claim made by Rawat in front of the media on Monday.
The Jenny case has always been more than a simple paternity dispute. It became a political weapon in 2003 and is being used again in 2026. Jenny insists she was wronged and that her son deserves answers. Rawat insists he was framed and that science and the courts already cleared him. The latest assertion about the hospital record and the name Bablu keeps the story alive and ensures that the old controversy will continue to dominate headlines in the coming days.
Sources: Statements reported from Harak Singh Rawat’s media interaction on Monday; Jenny’s press conference coverage from 7 November 2026 in Pioneer Edge, The New Indian Express, ANI, PTI and local Uttarakhand reports; background from contemporaneous accounts of the 2003 CBI inquiry and DNA findings.
@Rohit Manral
