TMC MP asks Sebi to investigate stock market manipulation through exit polls

Mumbai: TMC MP Saket Gokhale has asked securities market regulator Sebi to investigate the June 3 stock market manipulation triggered by election exit polls.

In a letter to Sebi chief Madhabi Puri Buch, Gokhale said multiple exit polls predicted a landslide win for the BJP. But, one exit poll predicted “extremely strange” and “inflated seat numbers” for the BJP in several Indian states.

The stock market witnessed a sharp run-up on June 3 following the exit polls.

The next day, however, the market crashed following the announcement of the election results as there was a “glaring discrepancy” between the poll predictions and the actual outcome. Consequently, investors suffered a loss of over Rs 31 lakh crore on June 4.

Gokhale, a part of the All India Trinamool Congress, has urged Sebi to investigate the stock market spike on the back of these exit polls and the subsequent crash of it.

He said Sebi must probe which entities or investors made massive gains on June 3 and whether they have any links with the BJP or the pollsters. He has asked Sebi to investigate if the same entities indulged in any short selling on June 4, the day when the election results were announced.