NEW DELHI: The Congress and BJP clashed fiercely on Thursday as Rahul Gandhi called for a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe into what he alleged was a “Rs 30 lakh crore stock market scam” involving Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. Gandhi accused them of orchestrating the scam through “fake” exit polls. In response, BJP’s Piyush Goyal countered, calling the allegations a conspiracy to mislead investors.
During a press conference, Rahul Gandhi claimed that the Prime Minister, Home Minister, and Finance Minister provided “investment advice” to the public ahead of the election results, insisting that the “fake” pollsters involved needed investigation.
The BJP dismissed Gandhi’s accusations, with Goyal asserting that the charges aimed to frighten domestic and foreign investors. He noted that stock market indices had risen with expectations of a Modi-led government returning for a third term. “Rahul Gandhi has yet to come to terms with the Lok Sabha poll defeat. Now, he is attempting to mislead market investors,” Goyal said, rejecting the demand for a JPC probe.
EAS Sarma, a former finance ministry secretary, wrote to Economic Affairs Secretary Ajay Seth, requesting a probe by the Enforcement Directorate, CBI, and CBDT into the stock market crash. He also questioned whether SEBI had launched any investigation into the matter.
The stock market, buoyed by exit poll predictions of a decisive mandate for the BJP-led NDA, saw the BSE Sensex soar 2,500 points to a record high of 76,469. However, it experienced its worst crash, dropping 4,390 points to 72,079 after the actual poll results, causing a Rs 31 lakh crore loss for investors. The market has since recovered, closing 692 points higher at 75,074 on Thursday. Gandhi questioned why the BJP leadership encouraged people to invest in stocks ahead of the results and accused Modi and Shah of being “directly involved” in what he termed the “biggest stock market scam.”
“Why did the PM and HM give specific investment advice to the 5 crore families investing in the stock markets?” Gandhi asked. “Why were both interviews given to the same media house owned by the same business group under SEBI investigation for manipulating stock markets? What is the connection between BJP, fake exit pollsters, and dubious foreign investors who invested one day before the exit polls and made huge profits at the expense of five crore families?”
Goyal responded by stating that the Rs 30 lakh crore figure mentioned by Gandhi was notional and unrelated to actual trading. “He (Rahul) does not understand. That is why people of India do not trust him,” said Goyal, emphasizing that retail and domestic investors had benefited most from the stock market’s rise over the last decade.
“Rahul should be concerned about the fear among investors as the market crashed when Congress performed better than expected. Now, with confidence in a returning Modi government, the market has stabilized and is regaining its previous highs,” he added.
Goyal expressed confidence that the reforms planned by the new government would continue, setting the country on a path to a bright future. “We are delighted that our allies are progressive and support reforms,” he said, suggesting that Rahul’s allegations stemmed from desperation after the opposition alliance’s failure to secure power.
