Candidates apart, nobody's as eager for the election results as the bookies. Congress is the favourite as things stand now
Candidates apart, nobody's as eager for the election results as the bookies. Congress is the favourite as things stand now
With days to go for the Lok Sabha election results, bookies have turned political pundits, reeling out names and figures like seasoned psephologists.
The Congress is favoured to win around 125 and 140 seats and the BJP between 110 and 125 seats.
According to SK himself, the Congress and its allies are expected to win 190 to 200 seats while the BJP and its allies could grab between 170 and 180 seats. The Third Front is expected to win around 150-160 seats.
Confusing
Bhaskar Kumar, a city-based businessman and an ex-bookie says, "A lot of money is riding on these elections. It's quite confusing as to who will form an alliance with whom, but this is what makes it all the more interesting."
He predicts that the Congress will emerge as the single largest political party in the Lok Sabha with 145-165 seats. UPA is likely to get 190-210 seats, he adds.
State scene
Betting is high in three parliamentary constituencies in Bangalore south, north and central. And there are some surprises with regard to Karnataka.
Gururaj, a lottery dealer and small-time bookie, predicts that the BJP will win 13 to 15 seats, the Congress 8 to 10 and the JD(S) 2 to 4 seats. He's so confident that he's willing to pay double the amount to anyone betting on the BJP winning 20 seats.
High stakes!
Anyone betting Rs 100 on Mayawati gets Rs 750 and Rs 150 on L K Advani.
Sharad Pawar will bring in Rs 1,000
Lalu Prasad Yadav and Deve Gowda will fetch you Rs 10,000.
The police needs you!
Police say they are helpless when it comes to illegal betting.u00a0 "We know it exists but we cannot do anything because there's no solid proof against them in most cases. If you come across someone doing this, inform us and we will take immediate action," said M R Poojar, additional commissioner of police, law and order.
This is how the bets stack up
A person paying Rs 100 will get Rs 500 if he bets on the Third Front and Rs 250 if he's in favour of the NDA.
The results, according to bookies
Congress: 145-155
BJP: 137-147
Communist parties: 25-35
BSP: 20-25
SP: 25-30
AIADMK: 14-20
TDP: 10-14
RJD: 10-15
JDU: 10-15
Shiv Sena: 12-17
NCP: 10-15
TC: 8-12
DMK: 10-14
BJD: 5-9
Akali Dal: 5-7
AJP: 3-5
LJP: 3-5
INL: 2-4
NC: 3-4
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