By Sushil Kutty
Narendra Modi will likely start his third term as Prime Minister with an onslaught against him. That is if Raebareli MP Rahul Gandhi keeps faith with his charge that Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, had with their prediction of a post-election stock market rally, guided tens of thousands of gullible ‘bhakts’, and common folks, up the garden path and into financial ruin, with unsolicited investment advice. Rahul Gandhi has demanded a JPC probe to nail Modi and Shah to the charge.
Rahul Gandhi has been exacting revenge ever since notching victory from the long time family bastion of Raebareli. The other day, Rahul taunted NDA Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying BJP Prime Minister Narendra Modi should consider himself lucky Priyanka Gandhi Vadra did not contest from Modi’s constituency Varanasi, or else Modi wouldn’t have had a third term to talk of. The burning ghats of Varanasi would have claimed Modi’s ambition, turning it into ashes to be consigned to the Ganga.
What are the chances of Modi getting hauled over the coals on day 1 of Parliament? If Rahul Gandhi is not the forgiving kind, Modi would be in the Congress crosshairs from the word ‘go’ of the first session of the 18th Lok Sabha. Not just Prime Minister Narendra Modi, but also Amit Shah, who is back as ‘Union Home Minister’ in Modi’s NDA government. The question is: But for Modi’s “popularity”, would people have taken him and Amit Shah seriously and found merit in their “investment advice”?
According to the Congress, tens of thousands of investors and traders would have “made very different investment choices” if Modi and Shah hadn’t spoken of the bonanza awaiting them post-poll. It is another matter that lakhs and lakhs of voters ditched Modi and voted INDI-Alliance. But lakhs others fell for the smooth talk and tried their luck in the stock market. Rahul Gandhi is confident a JPC probe will nail Prime Minister Modi and Home Minister Shah to the silver tongue that persuaded common folk to invest their hard-earned money in stock.
Modi spoke of a stock market surge for them and a thumping majority for himself, both in the same breath, and both fell through the holes, Modi as well as gullible investor and trader. Modi didn’t get “abki baar 400 paar” and the investor and trader didn’t get the financial bonanza the amateur investment gurus had predicted about. The BJP fell short of majority and Modi was compelled to look at the NDA for making a getaway.
Apparently, on May 19, then BJP Prime Minister Narendra Modi in interview mode said the stock market would hit the roof on June 4, the election results day. Modi traded in high hopes for high hopes, speaking of a clear mandate in his favour and a windfall at the stock market for people with hard-earned money. It was Modi’s word against the vagaries of the stock market. And you know who will win? Of course, the oracle – Narendra Modi, who, according to Modi himself, was all set for “abki baar 400 paar”. What a fall it turned out to be.
Now, Rahul Gandhi has asked for a JPC probe. It was revealed that Amit Shah had in a TV interview said, “I suggest you buy (shares) before June 4. It will shoot up.” And this from a man who recently introduced a new set of criminal laws. Both the Modi and Shah comments sounded like “exhorting people to buy stocks”. Then came the exit polls, predicting BJP will get a thumping majority and the NDA “400 paar”, exactly what Modi had predicted. By then, Modi had also told TV anchors he had “divine” on his side. Now Modi stands discredited and Rahul Gandhi wants a JPC probe to expose NDA Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the gods.
Will Rahul Gandhi get his wish? More importantly, will the NDA government agree to a JPC probe? Will whoever is appointed/elected Speaker of the House concede to the Congress request for JPC probe? On June 3, benchmark indices had closed at record highs. Investors fell over each other to bet against the odds that Modi and Shah couldn’t go wrong. Indians and foreigners both believed in Modi and Shah. Also in stock market continuity. According to one estimate, equities worth Rs 6,851 crore were bought.
But the exit polls did not pan out as expected. The BJP did not get a majority. The NDA never saw “400 paar”. Modi trailed in Varanasi and then won by a disappointing margin. The man was no “Son of God”. Instead, NDA allies became Modi’s gods with names like Chandrababu Naidu, Nitish Kumar, Chirag Paswan and Jayant Chaudhary. Foreign investors dumped billions of Indian shares and domestic investors also sold. Disasters and calamities dog Modi like a shadow — earthquakes, terror strikes, stock market busts. Seems like Modi himself is asking for a JPC probe, and people in general can’t wait to get to the bottom of that. (IPA Service)
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