The official verdict of people for the 16th lok Sabha elections would be out on May 16, but if the indications from the ubiquitous but clandestine Satta bazaar (betting market) are to be believed than a BJP-led NDA Government is set to assume power at the Centre.
For the position of next Prime Minister of the country, the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate and Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi is the overwhelming choice of punters while odds are heavily against Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi.
Betting in India is deeply rooted in its psyche from ages and the bookies use this tendency of people to rake up mullah. The elections means a big business for the betting market which is controlled by underworld from foreign destinations and Mumbai.
The bookies are offering an amount equal to the one pledge on 245-247 seats to the BJP in the elections while the similar bet is offered on the Congress getting 70-72 seats only. It means if one puts Rs 1 lakh on the BJP getting seats between 245 to 247 he will get Rs 1 lakh from the bookies apart from getting back his offered amount.
While it is being rumored in the political circles that if the BJP fails to achieve the figure of 180 seats on its own then chances of Narendra Modi becoming prime minister gets diminished. Substantially, the bookies are safely assuming that the BJP will easily cross the aforesaid figure.
They are offering a bet of 4 paisa on every rupee for the BJP achieving the figure of 180 i.e. a right guess on the BJP achieving 180 seats will fetch you just Rs 4,000 for Rs 1 lakh put on the table. The chances of the Congress led Government are very bleak according to the betting patterns. The bookies are offering eight times more money to the bettor if he bets for the Congress Government.
However, for a BJP led Government at Centre is the favorite of bookies as they are offering 40 paisa on every rupee thrown at stake. For the most talked about seat Varanasi, Modi is the clear favourite. A bet of Rs 1 lakh on Modi winning from Varanasi will fetch the bettor Rs 25,000. The betting is banned in India but it is very well organised and controlled. The money which is at stake and offered is very safe with negligible scope of any misunderstanding.
The betting slips form the basis of all the transactions of money. One such punter who is a resident of Vasant Vihar locality of Dehradun said that both punters and bookies are very honest in their commitments and the entire process is based on mutual trust.
Explaining the rates which are offered in the market, one bookie said that the entire process is market driven and works on sentiments just like the stock market. “If more people are betting on Modi becoming prime minister than the market adjusts accordingly which explains the low returns on Modi and very high returns on Rahul Gandhi as very few are betting on him,” he said.