Nandyal gambles, bets big on TRS win

KURNOOL: The politically vibrant Nandyal town in Kurnool has found a short-term money making opportunity as Telangana went to polls on Friday. A town with known political speculators with bang-on targets has allegedly turned to a betting ground, with large scale bets being placed on the possibilities of the future government. According to one source, at least Rs 10 crore had been collected from different players who wanted to test their hunch and gut feeling for a price.

The bets are on the happening or not happening of certain events like TRS getting the magic figure of 60 Assembly seats to form the government. If you bet Rs 100 and win, the chances are that you will win 1:1 meaning you get Rs 100 for your stake of Rs 100. Another betting bait is TRS unable to get the magic figure yet forming the government with MIM and independents’ support. YSR Congress leaders and cadres are fully confident of TRS winning and forming the next government in Telanagana.

A person who bet on the winning chances of a Congress leader said, “Revanth Reddy from Kodangal is considered to be the strongest in the contest. Possibilities of Revanth Reddy losing Kodangal is minimal. If you bet Rs 1,000 on his victory chances, you will receive Rs 380 in return.”

With the police monitoring the activities, Nandyal betting gangs have shifted place to Hyderabad and Bengaluru. Some software engineers in Bengaluru have also been sending money to their parents and telling them to take betting positions, the person said.

The people who were backing bets on Congress led Mahakutami were from TD and Congress governments. A leader in Nandyal said that as the stakes were very high, some high net worth players had already left for Hyderabad to bet. The punters had commissioned their own surveys by recruiting market research professionals to do a customised survey.

It is learnt that bets on specific constituencies like Kodangal where Congress leader Revanth Reddy was contesting were also hot among speculators. A Congress leader in Nandyal has a ready market for every kind of betting opportunities. “But I don’t know who is making money. Every time the elections are over, I hear only stories of people losing money heavily,” said another Congress leader.

A candidate who contested the elections in Nandyal said people lose money when they bet on specific events like exact majority instead of a win or lose which is not complex to predict. He said a closer look shows that the direct fight between TRS and Prajakutumi may have now narrowed to 100 of the total 119 seats, as AIMIM has a monopoly on 7 seats.