Exit poll projections of big wins for Modi’s alliance sent stock markets soaring a day before votes were counted.
Opposition leader in the Indian National Congress, Rahul Gandhi, has demanded a parliamentary probe into the stock market’s sharp movements at the end of the just-ended national elections, alleging that Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave misleading investment advice.
Gandhi made his comments on Thursday.
Modi’s alliance won the vote with a surprisingly small majority, well short of the landslide victory predicted by weekend exit polls.
Projections made by Saturday’s exit polls sent stock markets rising on Monday, with the NSE Nifty 50 and the S&P BSE Sensex jumping 3.3 percent and 3.4 percent, respectively, a day earlier for the Electoral Commission to announce the results.
Modi and some of his ministers said during the campaign that markets would rise when results were declared on June 4, with Home Minister Amit Shah saying in a television interview: “Buy before June 4.
Stock markets, however, fell to a four-year low on Tuesday – down almost 6% – after election results showed that Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) lost its absolute majority in the Lok Sabha. , the lower house of parliament, and in the BJP. led by the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) won a narrow majority to give Modi a third term.
“We are interested in having a JPC [joint parliamentary committee] to probe the role of the Prime Minister, Home Minister and BJP members,” Gandhi told reporters.
“We want to understand who the foreign investors who made these negotiations are,” he said.
Modi’s outgoing commerce minister, Piyush Goyal, hit back at the accusation, saying it was Gandhi who was misleading investors.
“He is worried about Modi returning to power. … He is pressuring foreign investors not to invest in the country,” he said. “We know that stock markets change according to various estimates presented from time to time.”
The NDA won 293 of the 543 Lok Sabha seats, much lower than projected. Gandhi’s Congress-led opposition INDIA alliance won 232, more than projected.
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), the markets regulator, did not immediately respond to an email from news agency Reuters seeking comment.
A source familiar with developments said SEBI was examining stock trading patterns ahead of exit polls and general election results for any suspicious transactions.
Modi’s office, an aide to Shah and a BJP spokesman did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment.
This story originally appeared on Aljazeera.com read the full story
