Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah had given "investment advice" to people during the Lok Sabha polls, resulting in losses of lakhs of crores to retail investors. Gandhi demanded a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe into what he termed the "biggest stock market scam."
Speaking at a press conference, Gandhi said, "After 'fake' exit polls, stock markets rose, and then crashed on June 4."
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 that the stock market is rising at a great speed. the Union Home Minister said that on June 4 the stock market will be on the rise and you all should invest and similar was said by the Finance Minister...Amit Shah says buy shares before June 4, 19 May PM Modi says the stock market will break records on June 4. Why did the PM, Home Minister give investment advice to investors," Rahul Gandhi said.
"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? 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 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," he said.
Gandhi further demanded an inquiry against Modi, Shah, and those who conducted the exit polls.
In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP won 240 seats, down from its 2019 tally of 303, while the Congress saw significant growth, securing 99 seats. The INDIA bloc exceeded 230 seats, posing stiff competition and defying predictions. Prime Minister Narendra Modi secured a third term, but the BJP fell short of the 272-majority mark, marking the first time since 2014 that it did not secure a majority on its own.