Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi made a profit of Rs 46.49 lakh from his stock investments in the last five months, data has revealed. The revelation comes as the Congress leader continues to raise suspicion over the growth of the Indian stock markets in the Modi 3.0 era. News agency IANS reported that the calculation of Rahul Gandhi’s portfolio in the stock market hiked from nearly Rs 4.33 crore (as on March 15, 2024), to about Rs 4.80 crore (as on August 12, 2024).
The profit was calculated on the basis of shares revealed in the nomination filed by Rahul Gandhi in the Lok Sabha Elections for the Rae Bareli constituency. Rahul Gandhi had recently alleged that there is a "significant risk in the Indian stock market because the institutions that govern the stock market are compromised".
What are the stocks purchased by Rahul Gandhi?
The portfolio includes stocks in Asian Paints, Bajaj Finance, Deepak Nitrite, Divis Labs, GMM Pfaudler, Hindustan Unilever, Infosys, ITC, TCS, Titan, Tube Investments of India and LTIMindtree, among others. Rahul Gandhi’s portfolio includes around 24 stocks, out of which he is currently incurring losses in only four companies - LTI Mindtree, Titan, TCS and Nestle India.
Besides these, stocks of several small companies like Vertoz Advertising Ltd and Vinyl Chemicals are also included in the Congress leader’s portfolio. Due to corporate action seen in Vertoz Advertising Ltd, the number of shares in this company increased to 5,200, which was 260 as on March 15, 2024, the number crunching revealed.
Stock market in Modi 3.0 and Rahul Gandhi’s allegations
The stock market has witnessed a massive jump in the third term of Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led NDA government. Sensex and Nifty have broken many records in the last few months, reaching new highs.
Rahul Gandhi, in a video message on Sunday, demanded a JPC probe into the allegations against the SEBI chief levelled by US short-seller Hindenburg. He claimed that the integrity of the “securities regulator entrusted with safeguarding the wealth of small retail investors, has been gravely compromised by the allegations against its Chairperson”.
"It is my duty as Leader of the Opposition to bring to your notice that there is a significant risk in the Indian stock market because the institutions that govern the stock market are compromised. A very serious allegation against the Adani group was illegal share ownership and price manipulation using offshore funds," he said in a self-made video message.
However, the Hindenburg allegations were brushed off by the investors as the benchmark indices ended largely flat on Monday.
Sushil Kedia, Founder and CEO, Kedianomics, said that the short-selling firm Hindenburg was exposed 18 months ago when they made big claims about the Adani Group and the Supreme Court-monitored investigation found nothing. SEBI also issued a show-cause notice to the research firm for violating securities market rules.
“Now 18 months later, Hindenburg suddenly comes and claims on social media that they have something big about India. The aim was to destroy the Indian stock market by breaking the trust of retail investors,” Kedia told IANS.
Since the beginning of this year, Sensex has given returns of about 11 per cent and Nifty about 12 per cent.
(With IANS inputs)
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