– Abdul Bari Masoud
New Delhi, June 7: Rahul Gandhi, former president of the Congress, has raised serious allegations of a ₹30 lakh crore scam due to misleading exit polls that led to a stock market crash. Gandhi’s accusations come just before the formation of the Modi government’s third term, and he has called for a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) investigation into the matter.
During a press conference at the AICC headquarters, Gandhi highlighted that now-Caretaker Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, and Union Home Minister Amit Shah advised people to buy stocks before the June 4 announcement of the 2024 parliamentary election results. Gandhi questioned the propriety of these high-ranking officials giving investment advice to the public.
Gandhi asserted that after the final round of voting on June 1, false exit polls were disseminated, causing a massive surge in stock buying on June 3. When the actual election results, which were markedly different from the exit polls, were announced, the market plummeted, resulting in ordinary investors losing ₹30 lakh crore.
He posed several pointed questions: “Why did the Prime Minister and Home Minister give specific investment advice to the 5 crore families investing in the stock market? Is it their job to give investment advice? Why were both interviews given to the same media house owned by the same business group, which is also under SEBI investigation for manipulating the stock market? What is the connection between the BJP, the fake exit pollsters, and the dubious foreign investors who made huge profits at the expense of 5 crore families?”
Gandhi claimed that the BJP, based on intelligence and internal surveys, knew it wouldn’t win more than 220 seats but manipulated exit polls to suggest a significant victory. He emphasized that the interviews promoting stock investments were conducted by channels owned by Adani, further complicating the narrative. Gandhi accused the now-Caretaker Prime Minister and Home Minister of misleading the public, causing substantial financial losses.
He described this as a deliberate scam where someone profited immensely at the cost of retail investors, branding it a “criminal act.” The Congress is adamant about a JPC investigation to scrutinize the roles of the Prime Minister, Home Minister, Finance Minister, fake exit pollsters, and dubious foreign investors.
Gandhi outlined the sequence of events: On May 13, Home Minister Amit Shah advised buying shares before June 4, and on May 19, Narendra Modi predicted record-breaking stock market performance on June 4. Following the release of fictitious exit polls on June 1, the stock market hit an all-time high on June 3, only to crash the next day when the actual results were announced, leading to a ₹30 lakh crore loss for investors.
Congress general secretaries KC Venugopal and Jairam Ramesh were present at the press conference. Analysts suggest this alleged scandal could provide the opposition INDIA bloc with new ammunition against Modi.
