Punters give AAP the edge
With curtains coming down today on campaigning for the high-stakes Ludhiana West Assembly bypoll slated for June 19, the satta bazaar (betting market) touched its peak in the business and industrial capital of the state.While the real outcome of the bypoll, a prestige battle for the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), would be out after the counting of the votes on June 23, the satta bazaar today gave a clear edge to the AAP nominee Rajya Sabha MP Sanjeev Arora over his rivals from the Opposition parties.
Going by the trend and wave on the ground, the betting market is offering the least return for putting money on the name of Arora, while the maximum returns are promised for betting in favour of the Congress candidate and former Punjab minister Bharat Bhushan Ashu, followed by the BJP nominee Jiwan Gupta and Paropkar Singh Ghumman of the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD).
“In satta bazaar, the minimum returns indicate the maximum possibility of the candidate emerging winner and the maximum returns show the negative trend," an active operator of the undercover betting market confided in The Tribune.
He said the punters, as of today, are putting maximum amount on Arora, while the bets on the Congress and the BJP candidates are quite low, whereas there are hardly any takers for the SAD nominee.
Today, the satta bazaar was offering 25% return on the bets made for Arora, while for all other three candidates, the returns offered were as high as five to 10 times of the betted amount.
A bookie said a large number of punters had put in their money, estimated to be in crores, in the satta bazaar till now and more was likely to be pumped in till the time the result of the bypoll was out.
Explaining further, he said the betting market was abuzz and fluctuations were going on, but as of now, these are the latest rates. “I have also put stakes worth Rs 5 lakh, let’s hope I get good gains,” said the bookie.
The satta bazaar, which is illegal in India, in its rates, is placing a winning bet on the AAP candidate Arora, while other three candidates from the mainstream parties, including Jiwan Gupta, Ashu and Ghumman, remain on the second, third, and fourth slots. Another bookie said, “The satta market works on the logic of lowest returns for the winning candidate and highest returns for the candidates springing a surprise win. As per the satta bazaar trends, a bet of Rs 1 lakh would fetch a mere 25% return for Arora, while a bet on Gupta will bring five times return, Ashu seven times and if you bet for Ghumman, you will be richer by 10 times of your invested amount if he wins”.
Ludhiana being an industrial and business hub has got large number of bookies, who put in huge money in the satta bazaar to get good returns.
Another bookie said, “So many have been in this business for ages and we all rely on the word of mouth…there is nothing in writing in this trade. Many would get good gains on the day of the result, while there would be others, who will bear huge losses. Betting always remains at its peak in Ludhiana during the elections and cricket fixtures, including the recently held IPL tournament,” said an industrialists, who has put in Rs 10 lakh in the bypoll betting, hoping for a good and quick return.
The trends
As per the satta bazaar trends, a bet of Rs 1 lakh will fetch a mere 25% return for AAP nominee Sanjeev Arora, while a bet on BJP nominee Jiwan Gupta Gupta will bring five times return, Congress’ Ashu seven times and if one bets for SAD’s Ghumman, he will be richer by 10 times of his invested amount
Punjab