TMC MP wants SEBI to probe exit polls for 'manipulating' stock market

Trinamool Congress' Rajya Sabha MP Saket Gokhale has shot off a letter to market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) demanding an investigation into exit polls for allegedly inflating their seat forecast for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and National Democratic Alliance (NDA).

"I've written to SEBI demanding an investigation into the exit polls (specifically Axis MyIndia) which massively inflated the seat numbers for BJP-NDA," the All India Trinamool Congress MP says in a post on microblogging platform X.

"In Bengal, they predicted 26-31 seats for BJP which actually got just 12 seats. That's an exaggeration of a whooping 116-158%. This is way beyond any standard margin of error," says Gokhale.

On the back of exit polls, stock markets spiked massively on Monday. However, after the results, the markets crashed on Tuesday as the BJP failed to cross the majority mark of 272 seats, making the NDA alliance essential in the formation of the next coalition government.

The Rajya Sabha MP says he has asked SEBI to investigate if there are entities that booked profits through selling on June 3 and made even more profits on June 4 by short selling. "Have also asked to investigate whether any of these entities have direct or indirect links with the BJP or with pollsters like Axis MyIndia,” he writes.

“The exit polls were clearly manipulated to rally the stock market. Lakhs of crores of investors' money was later wiped off yesterday after the markets crashed,” says the Rajya Sabha MP.

“There must be an investigation to determine if pollsters like Axis MyIndia intentionally inflated the exit polls for the BJP. This is important because Axis MyIndia also had BJP as a client. The investigation must also determine whether the BJP & any poll agencies have made crores by manipulating the stock markets through exit polls,” the MP says.

The BSE Sensex and the Nifty 50 were trading as much as 7% lower in intraday trade on Tuesday when the counting of votes was going on, dragged down by a lower-than-expected seat tally for the BJP. Adani Enterprises, the flagship entity of the Gautam Adani-led conglomerate, was trading around 25% lower at ₹2,740 on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) on Tuesday. Most of the Adani group stocks were trading close to their lower circuit limit. Shares of Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries fell 10% to hit a low of ₹2,719.15 on the BSE. Stocks of public sector enterprises were the worst hit. Shares of India’s largest public sector lender, the State Bank of India, fell as much as 19% to hit a low of ₹734.25 on the BSE. Shares of Rail Vikas Nigam Ltd (RVNL) hit the 20% lower circuit during intraday trade. Shares of Rural Electrification Corporation (REC) tanked as much as 25% to hit a low of ₹453.45 on the BSE. Shares of Power Finance Corporation also fell 25% to hit a low of 416.20. Shares of IRCTC were down 20% in intraday trade to hit a low of ₹843.45 on the BSE.