Rahul Gandhi demands probe into ‘biggest stock market scam’, targets Modi

CONGRESS leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday hurled some serious allegations against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, seeking a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) investigation into what he called the "biggest stock market scam", reports India Today.

Addressing a press conference, the former Congress President also questioned why top BJP leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, made comments about the stock market just days before the announcement of election results.

Reacting to the Congress leader's allegations, senior BJP leader Piyush Goyal said that Rahul Gandhi was unable to overcome his election loss and that is why he is now conspiring to mislead the market investors.

"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," Rahul Gandhi had said earlier today while addressing a press conference.

"PM Modi 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 should all invest. A similar claim was made by the Finance Minister. Amit Shah says buy shares before June 4. On May 19, PM Modi says the stock market will break records on June 4," he pointed out.

Rahul Gandhi's allegations came days after equity investors suffered a massive loss of Rs 31 lakh crore as markets went into a tailspin with the BSE Sensex tumbling nearly 6 per cent as vote counting trends showed the BJP not getting an absolute majority in Lok Sabha elections.

Here's the chronology Rahul Gandhi explained in this press conference:

May 13: Amit Shah asks people to buy shares before June 4
May 19: PM Modi said "stock markets will break records on June 4"
June 1: Last phase of polling, after which media releases exit polls
June 3: Stock market breaks record and reaches an all-time high
June 4: Biggest stock market crash. Investors, especially small ones, lose Rs 30 lakh crore.

The Gandhi scion further said that the internal official survey of the BJP projected 220 seats for them.

"Intel agencies had told the government that they will get 200-220 seats. The stock market breaks all records on June 3, and on June 4, the market goes underground," he claimed.

"Why did the PM 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?" Gandhi asked.

Further in his presser, the Congress leader also wondered why both PM Modi and Amit Shah gave interviews to a news channel, which he said, is owned by the same business group which is under SEBI investigation for manipulating stocks.

"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 asked.

Rahul Gandhi sternly demanded a parliamentary investigation into the June 4 market crash claiming that somebody has made thousands of cores on the indications give by Prime Minister and other BJP leaders.

"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," Rahul Gandhi added.

Addressing a press conference following Rahul Gandhi's allegations, BJP leader Piyush Goyal rejected the claims and said that the Gandhi scion was hatching a conspiracy to mislead investors while PM Modi was working to make India the third-largest economy.

"Rahul Gandhi has still not overcome the loss in the Lok Sabha Elections. Now, he is conspiring to mislead the market investors. Today, India has become the fifth-largest economy," Goyal said.

"Rahul Gandhi is hatching a conspiracy to mislead investors while PM Modi is working to make India the third-largest economy," the BJP leader claimed.

"In the last 10 years of Modi government, for the first time our market cap has crossed over 5 trillion dollars. Today, India's equity market has entered the market cap of the top 5 economies of the world. We know that the market cap of PSUs listed in the market has increased 4 times under the Modi government," he added.

The former Union minister also pointed out that India's market cap was Rs 67 lakh crore when UPA-2 government was in power ten years ago.

"When the UPA government was in power 10 years ago, India's market cap at that time was Rs 67 lakh crore. Today the market cap has increased to Rs 415 lakh crore," he said.