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Exit polls rigged to manipulate stock market? TMC's Saket Gokhale wants Sebi to step in
Gap between exit poll predictions and the actual Lok Sabha election results on June 4 led to huge losses in the stock market.
Trinamool Congress leader Saket Gokhale asked market regulator Sebi to investigate whether exit polls were tinkered with in order to affect stock markets. This comes after the gap between exit poll predictions and the actual Lok Sabha election results on June 4 led to huge losses in the stock market.
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He said that intentionally skewed exit poll would mean that there was massive stock market manipulation which merits an investigation. In a letter to Sebi, Saket Gokhale wrote, “Investors made massive profits on 03.06.2024 after the markets rose on the back of exit poll results. However, on 04.06.2024, investors suffered losses of over 31 lakh crore Le. 31 trillion. In the interest of protection of investors, it is important to determine if the India Today Axis MyIndia exit polls were rigged or intentionally skewed in favor of the BJP-led NDA which led to the unprecedented rally in the markets on 3rd June.”
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"The exit polls were clearly manipulated to rally the stock market. Lakhs of crores of investors' money was later wiped off after the markets crashed. 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," he said.
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An average of all exit polls predicted that NDA will win more than 350 seats following which the Sensex and Nifty saw massive gains above 3% on June 3. The exit polls were way off mark as the BJP-led NDA won 293 seats leading to a market crashing by 6% on June 4. The markets are although on a recovery path as PM Modi is set to take oath for the third time on June 8 with the help of allies- TDP and JD(U).
