TMC accuses pollster of insider trading, may move Sebi next week

KOLKATA: Trinamool, which on Saturday accused Axis My India’s chief Pradeep Gupta of insider trading following their exit poll predictions, is likely to lodge a complaint with market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) next week. The party claimed to have identified a linkage between the date of exit poll results and a surge in the stock market.
A senior Trinamool MP on Saturday claimed that the financials of Axis My India over the last few years showed that the company had an average annual cash flow of Rs 3-5 crore from “investment activities”.“Their exit poll predictions were published between May 31 and June 2. There was a surge in the stock market on June 3. If Axis My India invested in stock markets between June 3 and June 4, it would be a clear case of insider trading,” said the MP.
“We will lodge a fresh complaint with Sebi next week as it has the jurisdiction to find out if Axis My India was involved in insider trading,” the MP added.
Earlier this month, TMC’s Rajya Sabha MP Saket Gokhale wrote to Sebi demanding an investigation into exit polls, especially the one done by Axis My India.
Gupta, in an interaction with a news agency on Saturday, brushed aside all allegations and claimed that he was “open to face all kinds of investigations”. “As far as me deriving any benefit from stock market jump is concerned... Axis My India has no demat account. It is a limited company, not listed and till today not a single external investment is there in the company. There is no investment by promoters. My personal investment in stocks since April has been merely Rs 35,000. Where have I benefited?” he said.
“We have no connection with the stock market whatsoever but I am happy to know these allegations because our data and system is so foolproof that any probe will give me an opportunity to showcase all that is used to predict exit polls to the world,” he said.