Even before the BJP-led government at the centre can take oath, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi launched a scathing attack on former (and potential) prime minister Narendra Modi and his former home minister Amit Shah on Thursday, 6 June — over the stock market crash on counting day, with results at odds with the exit polls.
He demanded a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) inquiry against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and others who he said were involved in the “biggest stock market scam”. He also questioned the connection between the fluctuations in the market and the recent exit polls.
He also said stock markets rose after “fake” exit polls and then crashed the day Lok Sabha polls votes were counted on June 4. Retail investors lost Rs 30 lakh crore and this is the “biggest stock market scam”, he added.
“For the first time we noted that during the elections, the Prime Minister, the Union Home Minister and the Finance Minister commented on the stock market. The Prime Minister said that the stock market is rising at a great speed” he said.
Further, he added that “the Union Home Minister said that on June 4 the stock market will be on the rise and you all should invest. A similar was said by the Finance Minister. Amit Shah says buy shares before June 4. On 19 May PM Modi said the stock market will break records on June 4.”
Gandhi also put up three questions related to the stock market “scam”. He asked why PM Modi and Shah “advised the people of the country to invest in the market”. He also questioned the PM’s and the Home Minister’s interviews “only to those Adani channels against which SEBI is carrying out an investigation”.
“In such a situation, what is the role of those channels?” Gandhi asked. Lastly, he expressed doubts over the connection between theBJP, “fake” exit polls and foreign investors. Gandhi alleged that “people higher up in BJP carried out this stock market scam”.
However, the BJP termed Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s allegation as baseless and accused him of hatching a conspiracy to mislead the investors. Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal hit back on Congress party’s biggest stock market scam charge and said that Rahul Gandhi has still not overcome the loss in the Lok Sabha Elections 2024. “Rahul Gandhi is conspiring to mislead the market investors. Today, India has become the fifth-largest economy”, he said.
Rahul Gandhi’s allegations surfaced days after equity investors experienced a significant loss of Rs 31 lakh crore, as markets plummeted with the BSE Sensex tumbling nearly 6 per cent, reflecting vote counting trends indicating that the BJP was not securing an absolute majority in the Lok Sabha elections.