22 October,2009 08:02 AM IST | | Surender Sharma
That's the sum being gambled on the state election results in the satta market
The Haryana election results, to be declared today, have a heavy price tag. More than Rs 150 crore is on bet in the satta market on who will be in power in the state and sources say it is one of the highest bets in the country.
Local satta dens in Delhi, Faridabad, Gurgaon, Panipat, Rohtak and Chandigarh have been seeing hectic activity for several days now.
Bets have been placed on almost every aspect of the elections individual winners and losers in key constituencies, margins of victory and defeat, and anything else that can be speculated upon.
As per latest estimates from the satta market, the Congress Party's seat in the 90-member Assembly will be less than 60, while the Indian National Lok Dal's (INLD) share may go up to 18 seats. The Haryana Janhit Congress (HJC) will be able to bag a maximum of eight seats and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), four seats.
"The final bets have been placed. Nothing more is happening. Information has been gathered from all sources.
All eyes are on the poll results now," said a bookie from Gurgaon.u00a0
Those who want to play safe are betting on the Congress as every exit poll predicts a clean win for the party.
"The Haryana Congress is fetching 35 paise (for every Re 1 betted on it), INLD is getting 1.25 paise and the Haryana Janhit Congress Rs 3.50," said a bookie, who has been closely monitoring the bets for the past two months.
Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda is being predicted to return to power and is fetching 35 paise (per Re 1), Chaudhary Virendra Singh (Congress) 65 paise, Om Prakash Chautala (INLD) Rs 1.65 and Kuldip Bishnoi (HJS) Rs 3.50.
The gap of about a week between the polling and the counting dates (October 13 and October 22) of the Haryana elections has added to the gamble frenzy. "There is enough time to bet on the results and make money. This has boosted the satta bazaar this Diwali in Haryana and in Delhi," said a satta agent.
Bookie talk
The Haryana Congress is fetching 35 paise (for every Re 1 put on it), INLD is getting 1.25 paise and the Haryana Janhit Congress Rs 3.50.
Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda is being predicted to return to power and is fetching 35 paise (per Re 1), Chaudhary Virendra Singh (Congress) 65 paise, Om Prakash Chautala (INLD) Rs 1.65 and Kuldip Bishnoi (HJS) Rs 3.50.
