Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday questioned why Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah gave “specific investment advice” ahead of the Lok Sabha election results, and alleged that they caused losses of Rs 30 lakh crore to investors.
Gandhi called for an investigation by a Joint Parliamentary Committee into “this biggest-ever stock market scam”.
The Bharatiya Janata Party, however, accused the Congress leader of trying to mislead investors.
On May 19, Modi had said in an interview to NDTV that the stock market would rise sharply in the week around the Lok Sabha election. “On June 4, the day of the Lok Sabha election results, you will see…in that week, all the stock market programmers will get tired.”
Six days earlier, Shah had also told NDTV that the stock market would surge after June 4.
“Stock market crashes should not be linked with elections, but even if such a rumour has been spread, I suggest that you buy [shares] before June 4,” the home minister had said. “It will shoot up.”
However, on the day when votes were counted, stock markets plunged as it became clear that the Bharatiya Janata Party would not win the majority on its own and would need the support of allies to retain power. On that day, the Sensex fell 4,389.73 points or 5.74% at 72,079.05, and the Nifty 50 fell 1,379.40 points or 5.93% at 21,884.50 at closing.
The stocks of Adani Group companies were particularly hit. Congress leaders have accused the BJP-led Union government of favouritism towards the Adani Group.
Gandhi on Thursday said that this was the first time that a prime minister had made such comments about the stock market. “Why did the prime minister and home minister give specific investment advice to the 5 crore families investing in the stock markets?” the Congress leader asked. “Is it their job to give investment advice to the people?”
Gandhi claimed that Modi and Shah were “privy to data on actual election results” and had access to Intelligence Bureau reports. “He has information that the exit polls are wrong and he knows what is going to happen because of the IB data and his own party data,” he said at a press conference.
The Lok Sabha elections defied the predictions of exit polls, most of which had predicted that the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance would get over 350 seats. The NDA, however, got only 292 seats, well below its 2019 figure of 353.
Responding to Gandhi’s accusations, BJP leader Piyush Goyal said: “Perhaps Rahul Gandhi has still not overcome the Opposition’s defeat in the Lok Sabha elections. Now he is conspiring to mislead market investors.”
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