BJP VS Congress Over Rahul Gandhi's Exit Polls-Stock Market 'Scam' Claim | Timeline

As the serious allegations levelled by the Congress MP gain heat in the political circle, let's look at the lead up to the market crash moment.

WHAT HAPPENED, WHO SAID WHAT | TIMELINE

MAY 13: AMIT SHAH'S 'BUY BEFORE JUNE 4' REMARK

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on May 13 had said that though stock markets should not be linked with the Lok Sabha elections, it would perform better under a stable government.

In an interview to NDTV, Shah noted that the share market will "shoot up", saying that "I suggest that you buy (shares) before June 4."

Addressing rumours about the share market crashes indicating BJP's poor performance, Shah said that there have been bigger corrections made by the markets severe times before this.

Citing the better market performance under stable Centre, the Union Home Minister had said, "That's why I am saying we are going to get 400-plus seats and a stable Modi government will be in power. Therefore, the share market will certainly go up."

MAY 19: MODI'S 'SHARE MARKET WILL BREAK RECORDS AFTER JUNE 4'

Highlighting the sustained economic reforms his government had undertaken in the past 10 years, Prime Minister Narendra Modi in an interview to NDTV, suggested that the stock markets will be set new records after June 4, the day of 2024 Lok Sabha elections results.

"You see, the day election results come out, and throughout that week, stock market programmers will get tired of the action," Modi said.

He said that the BJP government at the Centre has encouraged pro-entrepreneurship policies, agreeing that several young people are becoming investors. This will benefit the share markets, he added.

"I believe citizens should have some risk-taking capacity as they become more experienced investors," the Prime Minister told NDTV.

JUNE 1: EXIT POLL PROJECT MODI 3.0

Following the conclusion of the seven-phase Lok Sabha elections on June 1, pollsters released their exit poll figures, projecting a third term for the Modi government with over 370 seats for the BJP-led NDA.

Notably, the Congress-led Opposition grouping, INDIA bloc, also seemed to be doing better this general elections.

However, the BJP-led NDA, as per the majority of exit poll numbers, did not seem to be achieving its target of 400-plus seats.

Today's Chanakya exit poll agency and India Today-Axis My India exit poll projected that the BJP might hit the 400 milestone, and restricted the INDIA bloc to over 100 seats.

JUNE 3: STOCK MARKET'S MASSIVE JUMP AFTER EXIT POLLS

The share market on Monday, June 3, opened with a bang, posting a massive jump in the early trade after exit polls projected a third consecutive term for the Narendra Modi-led NDA government.

The 30-share BSE Sensex jumped 2,777.58 points or 3.75 per cent to hit a record peak of 76,738.89 in early trade. The NSE Nifty rallied 808 points or 3.58 per cent to hit a fresh all-time high of 23,338.70, said to be the biggest jump in four years during the market opening.

While all the 30 Sensex companies were green, Power Grid, NTPC, Larsen & Toubro, State Bank of India, ICICI Bank and Mahindra & Mahindra were among the biggest gainers.

JUNE 4: STOCK MARKET WITNESSES RECORD CRASH

Indian stock markets witnessed the worst crash in over four years on Tuesday, June 4, after the vote-counting trends swayed away from the exit poll projections.

The stock markets crashed by over 6,000 points after a sharp rally in the previous session, even as early vote-counting trends showed BJP-led NDA leading in over 270 seats, but the extent of the Modi government's victory was not clear.

While Sensex crashed 6,126.30 points to 70,342.48, Nifty tumbled 1,958.25 points to 21,305.65.

JUNE 5: STOCK MARKETS RECOVER AFTER NDA'S NARROW WIN

Day after the BJP-led NDA secured a narrow in the Lok Sabha elections with 293 seats, the benchmark equity indices Nifty50 and Sensex recovered. BSE Sensex was trading over 1,400 points higher at 73,500 while Nifty topped 22,350 points on Wednesday.

JUNE 6: RAHUL ALLEGES 'BIGGEST STOCK MARKET SCAM'; BJP'S REBUTTAL

Congress MP-elect Rahul Gandhi on Thursday slammed the Modi government for its stock market crash "scam" and demanded a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe into the same.

He alleged that the Prime Minister and the Union Home Minister were "directly involved in the scam".

He asked why PM Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah gave "specific" investment advice to the citizens 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 asked.

Retail investors lost Rs 30 lakh crore, Rahul said, terming this to be the "biggest stock market scam".

He said that such a thing has never happened before, the "Prime Minister has never commented on the stock market before".

Reacting to Rahul Gandhi's statements, the Bharatiya Janata Party said that the Congress leader was making baseless allegations.

Addressing a press conference, senior BJP leader Piyush Goyal said that Rahul is making such allegations out of frustration after the Opposition's defeat in the Lok Sabha polls.

He said that Rahul was desperate after the opposition alliance failure and that Modi government is set for a straight third term.

"Rahul Gandhi is hatching a conspiracy to mislead investors out of frustration following the opposition's defeat," Goyal said.

The BJP's Mumbai North winning candidate also noted that the Rs 30 lakh crore figure highlighted by Rahul was a notional amount and did not pertain to trading.

"He (Gandhi) does not understand. That is why people of India do not trust him," Goyal said, citing the big rise in stock market under the BJP government to assert that retail and domestic investors benefitted the most.

On the comments of PM Modi and Amit Shah on stock market movement, the senior BJP leader said that every party makes claims about its success and the Congress also did so.

(with agency inputs)