BJP frames Hindenburg report as ‘part of attack on Indian institutions’, likely to stay silent on SEBI chief

Senior party leader and former Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said: “Any Tom, Dick and Harry sitting in a foreign country will seek to destabilise India and they (the Congress) will say ‘JPC’. They will belittle India’s investors. They will belittle India’s stock market. That is their game. The JPC demand is a sham.”

In its first official reaction to the allegations, the Union Ministry of Finance said it had nothing to add after the SEBI and Buch had issued their statements. Economic Affairs Secretary Ajay Seth told reporters: “The SEBI has given a statement. The concerned person has given a statement. I have nothing further to add.”

Seth, as the Department of Economic Affairs Secretary, is a part-time member on the SEBI board. When asked whether Buch would step aside, Seth reiterated, “Both of them, the concerned person as well as the regulator, have made their statements and there is nothing further to be added by the government.”

A detailed questionnaire sent by The Indian Express to Seth did not elicit a response.

On the question of Buch personally, BJP leaders, however, did not disagree that she should step down in the wake of “such serious allegations”. At least three senior BJP leaders as well as two leaders among allies TDP and JD(U) that The Indian Express spoke with, said it would be better if Buch steps down immediately. However, one of them admitted that there was no signal from the BJP top leadership of her resignation being sought.

A BJP office-bearer indicated that this would remain the party’s stand. “Buch has to defend herself and the SEBI has to do the damage control. The BJP does not need to react to her alleged links with any business groups.”

Instead, the party will keep up its counter-attack, questioning “the intentions” of such allegations by “external forces” and the Congress role in it. An NDA leader said: “Ideally, the SEBI chief should step down. But what is most dangerous is how India’s image has taken a hit in terms of the credibility of its institutions.”

Prasad said at the press conference: “After being rebuffed by the people of India, the Congress party, its allies and the toolkit gang have conspired together to usher in economic anarchy and instability in India… The Hindenburg report is released on Saturday, there is uproar on Sunday, so the capital market is destabilised on Monday.”

Senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s “pathological hatred for Prime Minister Narendra Modi” had caused the Congress “to develop hatred for India”, Prasad said, adding that global advocacy funder George Soros, “who regularly runs propaganda against India”, is the main investor in Hindenburg.

Prasad also said that the SEBI had sent a notice to the US-based Hindenburg as part of its probe into the firm’s allegations of stock market manipulation against the Adani Group and that, instead of replying, Hindenburg had chosen to target Buch.

Senior BJP leader and former Union minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar said: “It is terribly disconcerting and irresponsible that Rahul Gandhi-led Opposition has been, as a pattern, constantly undermining important institutions, the judiciary first, then the Election Commission, the Electronic Voting Machines and the democratic process, the RBI and so many others, including the SEBI. This could destabilise the perception of Indian and financial markets globally, especially at a time when India’s economy is growing fast. We will not permit them to do it.”

BJP’s alliance partner TDP also talked about the “perception” such allegations could create. TDP parliamentary party leader Lavu Srikrishna Devarayalu told The Indian Express: “Since the first allegations came out (by Hindenburg), enough scrutiny has been done and all the facts are available… The Opposition keeps talking about creating jobs, but what kind of narrative are they creating even about the Budget, which intends to create jobs?”

Devarayalu said that the Opposition’s claims that the Modi government would not last was part of the same “narrative”. “In the past, the Congress has formed coalition governments. Why does it think that the BJP-led NDA would not be stable?”

On Saturday, Hindenburg Research alleged that Buch and her husband had stakes in obscure offshore funds, which it claims were used to siphon off money by the Adani Group.

The SEBI came out in Buch’s defence Sunday, saying they had adequate internal mechanisms to address issues related to conflict of interest. “The Chairperson has also recused herself in matters involving potential conflicts of interest,” the regulator said.

The report by Hindenburg Research comes almost 18 months after the short-seller first kicked up a political storm, accusing the Adani Group of “brazen stock market manipulation” and “accounting fraud” in January 2023. The port-to-energy conglomerate had denied the allegations, and the Supreme Court had rejected the demand for a CBI or court-monitored probe.

A senior BJP leader said the fallout of the current “revelations” is less than what happened in January 2023. “It is less damaging to the credibility of the government,” he said.

with inputs from Vikas Pathak