Khammam: Whether it is rooster-fight, cricket, playing cards or elections, betting over them is a hobby for many people in four mandals of erstwhile Khammam district.
Unlike Dharmaraju, head of Pancha Pandavulu, who bet without giving much thought, gamblers of Dammapet, Aswaraopet, Sattupalli and Penuballi mandals do their homework before they bet on anything. These punters survey the constituency by visiting villages on their own before betting. Before rooster-fights, they gather information about the bird’s breed and winning history.
Marempudi Srinivas, a small businessman of Mandalapalli in Dammapet mandal, said, “Influence of Krishna, West and East Godavari districts is high on people of Khammam district. They love an occasion to bet. I am eye-witness to ₹40 lakh worth betting on Huzurabad by-election in my village alone.”
Punters have now become active with the Munugode by-election. As part of it, a batch of gamblers has visited some of the villages in Munugode to assess the pulse of voters. They will check their inputs with information from leaders of Congress, BJP and TRS to get an overall understanding.
N. Srikar, a punter of Dammapet said, “Sometimes, we get internal information from top leaders, whether of BJP, Congress or TRS on prospects of their parties in a particular constituency. This help us bet on the winning party.”
Another bettor P. Chenna Rao of Penuballi said, “We get information on elections from friends in police department, who are posted in election areas. Inputs given by them benefit us in coming to a conclusion about winners.”
For example, gamblers of Khammam already know about Congress mapping its voters within Munugode. They know that BJP is depending on votes from backward classes. However, the bettors are focusing on voting share of smaller parties like BSP, which may have a decisive say.
In addition, those betting also contact journalists working for various media. P Satyanarayana Rao of Aswaraopet said, “We are collecting details about Munugode by-poll. There are 70–80 punters who will be betting on the by-poll, with each putting up a stake between ₹1 lakh to ₹10 lakh.”
