Mangaluru: As I earlier said that the best part of waking up in the morning is to watch my two favorite news channels on the idiot box which are CNN International, and CNN-IBN. And this morning I would like to share one of the news that was featured on CNN-IBN. It was reported that already Rs 10,000 crores has been bet on the forthcoming New Delhi elections by bookies. In the upcoming Assembly elections in New Delhi, Bharatiya Janata Party may be the favourite among the bookies but Arvind Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party has much more value in terms of money than BJP in the illegal betting market.
While a bookie betting on AAP will get more than the double of the betting amount, those betting on BJP will get a mere one-third of what he bets. The rate for BJP on Saturday was 1:0.36 and it was 1:2.5 for AAP. This means that if one places Rs 1 lakh on BJP, he or she would get only Rs 1, 36,000 if the party wins the Delhi election. However, placing the same amount on Aam Aadmi Party will fetch them Rs 2.5 lakh, reported the TV channel.
The bookies are trying their luck on parties as well as candidates, mostly the strong ones. Former IPS officer and CM candidate Kiran Bedi is lagging behind in the betting race against Kejriwal. Betting on Bedi will fetch a bookie a mere Rs.1, 36,000, while someone who bets on Kejriwal’s victory will make Rs 2.5 lakh. “Most people are playing safe by betting on Bedi as she is the candidate from what seems to be the strongest party,” according to a bookie from the New Delhi area. The value for BJP and Bedi is less as there is a bigger possibility of the party winning the assembly polls with AAP second in the race.
The illegal betting market seems to have decided that Bharatiya Janata Party will emerge a clear winner and Kiran Bedi will be chief minister. But, with BJP being the ‘favourite’ of bookies, betting on this party will get you the least number of bucks. Betting on Aam Aadmi Party will fetch one more than double his money while no bets are being accepted for Congress party as of now because bookies believe chances of its winning the polls are quite bleak. Most people are playing safe by betting on Bedi as she is the candidate from what seems to be the strongest party, according to a bookie. They unanimously predicted that BJP was going to bag 40-42 seats and Aam Aadmi Party 20-22 seats.
Apart from parties and CM candidates, bets are also being accepted on individual candidates from any of the 70 constituencies. However, bookies are getting bets only on seats in which a tough fight is expected — such as New Delhi, Krishna Nagar and Mayur Vihar from where Arvind Kejriwal, Kiran Bedi and Manish Sisodia are, respectively, contesting.
More than Rs 10,000 crore is at stake as far as the satta market is concerned. Last year, bookies suffered huge losses when AAP emerged as the surprise winner in many seats. Betting is illegal in India and police register cases under the Gambling Act whenever they receive information about any such activity.