After political leaders, punters now make a beeline for astrologers

Bengaluru: Come elections and it's not only political leaders, who  make a beeline for astrologers, but also their supporters, who find it an “auspicious” time to  bet on their favourites and rake in some moolah. With many approaching them for “tips” to help them with their betting, astrologers in the city and its outskirts are in  demand to predict the fate of individual candidates this Lok Sabha poll.

A BJP supporter from Yelahanka, Niranjan Aradhya,  admits he is is looking forward to the major parties announcing their candidates for the coming election so he can bet on the outcome for them and hopefully make a killing.  Says he, “During the last assembly poll  our astrologer’s predictions were so good that our party was happy and I did very well too financially. I had placed my bets based on his predictions and made good money.”  The betting, which reportedly runs into thousands and even lakhs, is done among friends or families when the polls are announced.

While there is no organised gambling around the elections, it is big enough to cause concern. Says a resident of Yelahanka, R Radhakrishna, "There's nothing wrong in people approaching astrologers during election time, but they could end up losing money by reposing too much faith in them.  They need to be careful when betting as their losses could hurt their families. There have been cases of people losing huge sums in betting and so my advice is they should stay away from it.”  

Although this may be sound advice, it’s unlikely that he will have many takers for it. After all, those hooked on betting on the future of their political idols are possibly thrill seekers, for whom the outcome of elections provides a dual suspense around the question: "Will my candidate win and will I too?"