‘PM, Amit Shah and media house’: Rahul Gandhi demands JPC investigation into market-poll crash link

Responding to the charges, senior BJP leader Piyush Goyal said, “The day the exit poll was announced, foreigners bought Rs 6,850 crore worth shares and Indians sold at high prices to benefit. When results came out, and the markets fell, foreigners sold at low prices and Indian investors bought shares. Even in this period, Indians benefited. The amount Rahul Gandhi is citing is just the valuation. In trading, Indians benefited. They proved to be smart.”

In his press conference, Rahul referred to Shah’s May 13 statement suggesting people buy stocks before June 4 — the result day — as the market will shoot up after that, and Modi’s May 19 remarks that the market will break all records after June 4.

Rahul Gandhi in New Delhi on Thursday.

In an interview to NDTV on May 13, when asked about market volatility, Shah had said such market moves should be linked to the elections. “Anyways, afwahon ke karan aise hua bi hoga…tho June 4 se pehle aap buy kar lena…woh shoot up karega,” he said. On May 19, Prime Minister Modi told NDTV, “On June 4, the day of election results… us hafte bhar mein dekhna…ki Bharat ka stock market… unke programming ke jo…order hain… programming wale thak jayenge.”

Goyal said foreign investors hold much less than what they held through foreign portfolio investors a decade ago. “The market cap of India has risen from Rs 67 lakh crore to Rs 415 lakh crore under Prime Minister Modi in 10 years. Retail investors benefited the most. Foreign holding through FPIs was 21 per cent during the UPA days. Today, they hold only 16 per cent. Today, 84 per cent is held by Indians. The mutual fund industry has increased five times in size to Rs. 56 lakh crore. Retail investors ensured Indian holdings are higher. The benefits are going to Indian retail investors. This is globally considered a market very well regulated by SEBI. In April and May, when markets were rising, foreigners sold and Indians bought, thus benefiting from it.”

When Rahul Gandhi was getting more seats than expected, the markets fell, and Rahul should worry about this, he said. “The very nature of stock markets is to rise and fall… We are delighted that all our NDA allies are progressive on reforms.”

In his press conference, Gandhi said the Home Minister’s comments on May 13 were a “clear indication to retail investors and others to buy stocks”.

“On May 19, for the first time, and repeatedly until May 28, the Prime Minister said the stock market is going to break records on June 4. Finally, on June 1, completely fictitious exit polls are released, these investors are given a completely wrong impression and on June 3 as we all know the stock markets break all records, and crash on June 4,” he said.

“Whoever has made money has made money as the stock market rose and as the stock market crashed. We are interested in having a Joint Parliamentary Committee to investigate the role of the Prime Minister, the role of the Home Minister, the role of BJP members and also those people who have done those fake exit polls and finally we want to understand who are the people, the foreign investors, who did these trades. So we want an investigation,” he said.

Gandhi claimed that the Prime Minister and Home Minister were privy to “data on actual election results”. They, he said, had access to Intelligence Bureau reports and internal surveys of their own party. He said they knew the exit polls were wrong and the BJP or the NDA was not going to cross either 400 or 300 seats.

Asked whether he was saying it was done to benefit industrialist Gautam Adani, Gandhi said, “What I meant was Adani could be involved… but it is much bigger than Adani. The BJP’s biggest leaders have sent a message to retail investors to buy stock… they (the BJP leaders) had information that the exit polls are wrong and that the BJP is not going to get full majority and they knew what would happen on June 3 and June 4.”

Rahul Gandhi’s charges came a day after Trinamool Congress MP Saket Gokhle wrote to SEBI chief demanding a regulatory investigation into alleged stock market manipulation through exit polls.