Rahul Gandhi calls for probe into stock market swings amid India’s general election drama

NEW DELHI:

India’s opposition Congress leader Rahul Gandhi called for a parliamentary inquiry on Thursday into stock market spikes before and after exit polls after the country’s general election concluded last week.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s alliance won the vote with a surprisingly slim majority, well below the universal prediction from weekend exit polls.

Predictions from Saturday’s exit polls sent stock markets higher on Monday, with the NSE Nifty 50 (.NSEI) and S&P BSE Sensex (.BSESN) jumping 3.3% and 3.4% respectively, a day before the Electoral Commission counts the votes and announces results.

Modi and some of his ministers had said during the election campaign that markets would jump when the results were announced on June 4, with Home Minister Amit Shah saying in a television interview, “buy before June 4, you will jump out”.

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Stock markets, however, fell to a four-year low on Tuesday – down nearly 6% – after election results showed Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) losing its outright majority and the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) won a marginal majority to give Modi a third term.

“We are interested in having a JPC to investigate the role of the prime minister, the home minister, the BJP members,” Congress leader Rahul Gandhi told reporters, referring to comments they made during the campaign and a Joint Parliamentary inquiry Commission.

“We want to understand who are the foreign investors who made these transactions?” he said.

The NDA won 293 seats in the elections, much lower than predicted. Gandhi’s ‘INDIA’ opposition alliance won 232, higher than predicted.

Markets regulator the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.

A source familiar with the developments said SEBI is looking into share trading patterns ahead of exit polls and general election results for any suspicious transactions.

Modi’s office, an aide to Shah and a BJP spokesperson did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment.