Betting on cricket is more popular in urban areas as compared to rural areas. “The ‘Satta’ market believes Devendra has an edge over Shiv Sena and it will be Devendra Government,” the bookie said. The betting market has shown a lot of interest in Mumbai, with Devendra as CM and Aaditya Thackeray as Deputy CM.
“The minimum betting amount is Rs 10,000. We have different mobile apps, websites and direct investment is also possible. The bidding price fluctuates every day,” a bookie said.
Post Assembly election results and speculations on different possibilities; the underground betting market has reached a state of ecstasy.
The bookies of Mumbai and Vidarbha told Afternoon Voice on the condition of anonymity that the political betting has grown so big that it has even surpassed punting on the IPL or Cricket. Different estimates by them suggest that the size of the election betting market now stands at over Rs 10,000 crores, almost twice as big as it was in 2014. Since betting is unregulated and illegal, Afternoon Voice could not authenticate or verify this figure. The exponential growth of the ‘Satta‘ market has also been aided by mobile apps and websites, with many of them operating abroad – where betting is legalised.
“It is a multi-million dollar business. Bets change every day,” said a person familiar with the international betting market, referring to a website operating from Canada which offers daily betting rates for the BJP and Sena alliance government.
Nishant Vilas Birje, Yuva Sena Vasai Taluka Chief Coordinator said, “The ruling alliance has not performed well in the last five years. There is a slowdown in almost all sectors which has hit the business community hard.”
“The bookies have favoured BJP to perform well. The Congress is facing internal issues, many of their senior leaders have rebelled and joined BJP which would help the party to retain power in Maharashtra,” he added.
In Mumbai, the market predicts BJP’s CM and Sena-BJP to power. Bookies believe there is a tight triangular contest among the BJP, Sena and the NCP, but the saffron party leads on the back of PM Narendra Modi‘s popularity. “Though there is no Modi wave in the country, there is a hint of urban voters by and large casting their votes for the BJP said Mumbai based Bookies.
‘Satta Bazaar‘ predicts that the Sena-BJP will come to power, they will manage to form the government over lot of internal compromises. The Congress and NCP on the other hand will sit in opposition. Initially, there was huge betting on Sena-NCP alliance, but as time passes, the betting has comedown heavily on this combination.
This means for every rupee 1 placed on Sena- BJP, one would get 2 rupees, and if the BJP doesn’t come to power its rate will be Rs 100. On Rupee 1 played on Devendra as CM, would get 2 rupees. On other than Devendra if one Rupee played, one would get 200. In many cases, the party’s vote shares decide the betting rate.
By Akshay Redij
