Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday slammed Narendra Modi and Amit Shah, noting that their unsolicited advice to investors led to a ₹30 lakh crore loss due to the market crash on the day the Lok Sabha election results were announced. He also demanded a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe into the matter.
Rahul Gandhi said, “For the first time, we noted that during the elections, the prime minister, the Union home minister and the finance minister commented on the stock market.
“The prime minister said the stock market is rising at a great speed. The Union home minister said that on June 4, the stock market would be on the rise and you all should invest, and a similar statement was made by the finance minister…Amit Shah said buy shares before June 4. On May 19, PM Modi said the stock market would break records on June 4…”
He further asserted, “The retail investors lost ₹30 lakh crore, this is the biggest stock market scam.”
“Why did PM Modi and Union home minister give specific investment advice to the five crore families investing in the stock market? Is it their job to give investment advice? Why were both interviews given to the same media owned by the same business group, which is also under SEBI investigation for manipulating stock?” he said.
“What is the connection between the BJP, the fake exit pollsters and the dubious foreign investors who invested one day before the exit polls were announced and made a huge profit at the cost of five crore salaries? We demand a JPC probe into this. We are convinced that this is a scam. Somebody has made thousands of crores of rupees at the cost of Indian retail investors, and the prime minister and the Union home minister have given an indication to buy. So we demand today a joint parliamentary committee to investigate this.”
BJP fell 32 seats short of the 272 majority mark
The counting of votes for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections was held on June 4. According to the Election Commission of India, the BJP won 240 seats, much lower than its 2019 tally of 303.
The Congress, on the other hand, registered a strong growth, winning 99 seats. The INDIA bloc crossed the 230 mark, posing stiff competition, and defying all predictions.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has secured a third term, but the BJP will need to rely on the support of other parties in his coalition – JD(U) led by Nitish Kumar and Chandrababu Naidu’s TDP.
After all votes polled in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections were counted, the BJP fell 32 seats short of the 272 majority mark. For the first time since the Bharatiya Janata Party swept to power in 2014, it did not secure a majority on its own.
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Published: 06 Jun 2024, 06:13 PM IST
