Daijiworld Media Network - New Delhi
New Delhi, Jun 6: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday, June 6 accused incumbent prime minister Narendra Modi, home minister Amit Shah, and finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman of influencing the stock market by giving specific investment advice before the 2024 Lok Sabha election results.
Rahul Gandhi raised concerns about the unusual involvement of top government officials in commenting on stock market performance during the election period.
"For the first time, we saw the Prime Minister, the Union Home Minister, and the Finance Minister making remarks about the stock market during elections. Prime Minister Modi claimed that the stock market was rising rapidly. Home Minister Shah said the market would surge on June 4 and encouraged investments, and Finance Minister Sitharaman made similar comments. Amit Shah explicitly advised buying shares before June 4. Additionally, on May 19, PM Modi forecasted record-breaking stock market performance on June 4," Gandhi stated.
He questioned the choice of media outlet for these interviews, highlighting that it is owned by a business group currently under investigation by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) for stock market manipulation.
"We are calling for a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) investigation into this matter because we are certain it constitutes a scam," Gandhi emphasized. "Someone has profited by thousands of crores at the expense of retail investors."
The Indian stock market experienced a substantial decline, losing $386 billion in market value as election results suggested that PM Modi's party might struggle to achieve a majority in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. This was unexpected, as exit polls had predicted a significant victory for Modi.
The NSE Nifty 50 Index dropped 5.9 percent in Mumbai, marking its worst performance in over four years. The vote count indicated that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its National Democratic Alliance (NDA) allies were leading in more than 290 seats. While this is above the 272 needed for a parliamentary majority, it is significantly less than the approximately 350 seats they won in 2019. As a result, the rupee experienced its steepest decline in a year, and the 10-year yield increased.