Congress scaling up campaign against SEBI chief Madhabi Buch

The Congress party has ramped its criticism of Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch. On Saturday, the party unveiled a new podcast titled "Buch Bachao Syndicate," featuring prominent leaders Rahul Gandhi and Pawan Khera. During the podcast, Mr Gandhi and Mr Khera highlighted concerns regarding Ms Buch's tenure, alleging a series of missteps and conflicts of interest in her approach to market regulations.

In the podcast, Khera said, “40 crore people of this country get directly affected by the stock market, and the stock market regulator, Sebi, is completely compromised in the hands of one to three corporates. So, she (Ms Buch) as a regulator will only safeguard the interests of these corporates and not the overall market.”Mr Gandhi, who joins the podcast, tells Mr Khera, “You have enough paperwork to bring down the government.” Mr Khera added: “Madhabi Buch’s actions indicate a deep compromise,” Mr Khera added.

`SEBI ruined'

The party also released a statement on X wherein they asked three questions. “Who is manipulating the hard-earned investments of 10 crore small and medium investors in the stock market? Why is the Modi Govt shielding SEBI chair from parliamentary scrutiny? Modi+Shah have single-handedly destroyed the sanctity and integrity of a robust market regulator--SEBI,” the party said.

This is not the first time the party or Mr  Gandhi raised questions on Ms Buch. On October 24, Mr Gandhi launched a scathing attack against Ms Buch after the Sebi chief failed to appear before a parliamentary committee. The meeting was part of the influential parliamentary panel’s performance review of regulatory bodies established by Acts of Parliament.

The Leader of Opposition also sought to know who was “behind the plan” to protect her from being answerable to the panel. “Why is Madhabi Buch reluctant to answer questions before the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament? Who is behind the plan to protect her from being answerable to the PAC?” the Congress leader asked.

(By arrangement with livemint.com)