Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday demanded a joint parliamentary committee (JPC) investigation into what it calls the ‘biggest stock market scam’.
“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? Why were both interviews given to the same media owned by the same business group which is also under SEBI investigation for manipulating stock?” Gandhi said at a press briefing.
“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?” he added.
“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 was quoted by ANI as saying.
On May 23, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said that the stock market will hit new highs after the Lok Sabha election results. “I can say with confidence that on June 4, as BJP hits record numbers, the stock market will also hit new record highs," he had said.
On May 13, Union home minister Amit Shah had urged not to link the stock market movements directly to the ongoing Lok Sabha elections.“The market has nosedived in the past as well. So one should not link it directly to elections. Anyway, some rumours may have fuelled it (the fall). In my opinion, buy before June 4. The market is going to shoot-up," the minister had told NDTV profit.
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‘Broader issue than Adani’, alleges Rahul
Rahul Gandhi alleged that PM Modi and Union home minister who had data on actual election results, advised retail investors to buy stock.
“This is a broader issue than just the Adani issue. It is connected to the Adani issue, but this is a much broader issue. This is directly the Prime Minister, the Union Home Minister, who is privy to data on actual election results, who has IB reports, who have their own data, who are advising retail investors to buy stock,” he said.
“This has never happened before. The Prime Minister has never commented on the stock market before. This is the first time the Prime Minister has commented very interestingly and multiple times, one after the other, saying that the stock market is going to boom," he added.
“At the same time, he has information that the exit polls are wrong. He has information that he knows what is going to happen because he has IB data and he also has his own party data,” Rahul Gandhi further alleged.
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Cuttack (Odisha): External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Sunday said that Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir should have been abrogated a long time back. Jaishankar noted that a feeling of separatism and extremism existed in Jammu and Kashmir when Article 370 remained in effect.
Pakistan-occupied Kashmir is part of India and added that there is a resolution of the Indian Parliament which states that PoJK is part of the country.
He noted that people were made to forget about PoJK, however, it is now back in the consciousness of the people of India.
Asked about India’s plans for PoJK during an interactive session in Cuttack, Jaishankar responded, “PoJK has never been out of this country. It is part of this country. There is a resolution of the Indian Parliament that PoJK is very much a part of India. Now, how did PoJK, how did other people get control? You know, when you have someone who is not a responsible custodian of a house, someone steals from outside. Now, here you have allowed another country.”
“You know, it was because we did not pursue the vacation of Pakistan from these territories in the early years of their independence that this very sorry state of affairs is continuing. So, what will happen in the future? Very difficult to tell. But, I always tell people one thing today PoJK is in the consciousness once again of the people of India. We had forgotten about it. We were made to forget about it. That it is today back definitely, the fact you are asking me a question is, I think, something which is very good,” he added.
He also spoke about the abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir and stressed that it should have been abrogated a long time back. Jaishankar noted that a feeling of separatism and extremism existed in Jammu and Kashmir when Article 370 remained in effect.
Addressing the critiques of the abrogation of Article 370, Jaishankar said that it was a temporary provision in the constitution and it had to be removed. He stated that Article 370 continued in Jammu and Kashmir as people had a vested interest.
Jaishankar said, “The biggest problem we had was Article 370. It was a problem because so long as Article 370 continued, in Jammu and Kashmir, a feeling of separatism, of extremism, sometimes I would even say support for violence, was created. This was done because of political interests of some parties, some parties at the center and some parties in Jammu and Kashmir and this step which happened in 2019 should have happened a long time ago.”
“Unfortunately, we did not have a Modi Sarkar till recently. And it was frankly an agenda that should have been done because it was a temporary provision of the constitution. You know, people debate saying, was it right? Was it wrong? In the constitution, it was written there, this is a temporary provision. What does temporary mean? That it comes to an end. This was to happen. Unfortunately, it was continued because people had vested interest,” he added.
Earlier in April, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh asserted that considering the development taking place in India, the people of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoJK) will themselves demand to be with India.
“Don’t worry. PoJK was, is and will remain ours,” Singh said, addressing a rally at West Bengal’s Darjeeling on Sunday, where the BJP had nominated sitting MP Raju Bista.
“India’s power is increasing…India’s prestige is increasing around the world, and our economy is fast progressing. Now our brothers and sisters in PoJK will themselves demand to come with India,” Singh further said.
Rajouri, poonch, Anantnag
Lok sabha election to be held on
25 may 2024