??'Not a Dalit': Closure report filed in Rohit Vemula's suicide case | ??Experts weigh in on 'Sell in May and Go Away' adage

Market Watch

• Sensex closed at 73,878.15, down 732.96 points, and the Nifty closed at 22,475.80, down 172.35 points.
• Capital goods, realty, telecom, and PSU Bank ended in the red down 1% each, while oil & gas, auto, Information Technology, and Media fell by 0.5% each.

'Not a Dalit': Rohit Vemula's suicide closure report filed

The Telangana police's closure report in the case of Rohith Vemula's death has stirred controversy by absolving key figures and questioning his caste identity.

The context: Rohith Vemula was a scholar at the University of Hyderabad who tragically committed suicide in 2016, sparking widespread protests and debates over caste discrimination in Indian universities. Here is Rohith Vemula's complete suicide note.?

Closed on what basis? The closure report by the Telangana police under the Congress government states that Rohith Vemula did not belong to the Scheduled Caste and was not a 'Dalit'.?

• Radhika Vemula asserts her SC caste identity but as a child, she was raised by a Vaddera OBC family.
• It noted that Rohith knew he didn't belong to the Scheduled Caste and that his mother obtained an SC certificate for him, potentially leading to fears about losing his academic degrees and facing legal consequences.
• The report states, “There is no evidence of any fact or circumstance available on the record which dragged him to commit suicide and no one is responsible for his death.”

What does the closure mean? It absolves the University of Hyderabad's former Vice-Chancellor and BJP leaders including Union Minister Smriti Irani and a few ABVP leaders who were booked for abbetment of suicide and other sections of the SC/ST act.

• The High Court has directed Vemula's family to appeal to the lower court.

Questions that remain: The family's counsel is questioning why the report focuses more on Rohith's caste and less on the circumstances of his suicide.

• Onlu the district collector holds the authority to determine one's caste status, not the police. Counsel claimed that the collector's decision is pending.

Family's reaction: Rohith Vemula's brother, Raja, described the police's claim as “absurd” and expressed dismay at the report which he feels misrepresents the situation.

• Despite the police's stance on Rohith's caste, authenticated documents and statements by Rohith's mother Radhika Vemula have consistently affirmed their Scheduled Caste (Mala) status.

Why is this shocking? Congress started the 'Justice for Vemula' campaign in 2016. Rahul Gandhi was at the forefront of it.?Now their government is at the helm in Telangana when the closure report is being filed.

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Experts weigh in on 'Sell in May and Go Away' adage

Experts weigh in on the impact of the 2024 general elections on the stock market and the relevance of the 'Sell in May and Go Away' strategy.

The context: The adage “Sell in May and go away” suggests that investors should sell their equity holdings in May and return to the market in November, based on the historical tendency for stocks to underperform between May and October compared to the November to April period.

Here's what returns looked like in May for the last 10 years, notice 2014 and 2019:

What they're saying: JPMorgan suggests a buy-on-dips strategy, predicting that the Nifty50 could test levels of 25,000 if the BJP wins a third term. They recommend focusing on sectors like indigenous defense, waterways, affordable housing, and manufacturing.

• SBI Securities highlights that the Indian markets typically experience a surge during election years, suggesting that holding might be a prudent strategy.
• VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services, opined that the “Sell in May and go away” adage does not hold good this year, suggesting that the market is likely to react more to the upcoming budget than the election outcome itself. He recommends a multi-asset investment strategy with the highest weightage for equity.
• Suman Bannerjee, CIO of hedge fund Hedonova, suggested that investors should focus on long-term wealth creation, considering India's promising economic growth prospects.
• Vaishali Parekh, Vice President - Technical Research at Prabhudas Liladher, and Sriram Velyaudhan, Senior Vice President at IIFL Securities, both expect the market to continue its bullish trend in May, driven by optimistic monsoon and election outcome expectations.

Of note: Most experts opine that corrections in the markets, if any, should be used as an opportunity to buy quality stocks, given the positive prospects for the Indian economy soon.

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