Vijayawada: The people in Andhra Pradesh, and punters in particular, are awaiting December 11, when the results of Friday’s Telangana state Assembly elections will be declared.
According to reports, crores of rupees have been committed to betting by the people who enthusiastically place bets on a variety of developments. The TS election comes on the threshold of the Sankranti betting season next month. The betting rings are reportedly being operated from Hyderabad.
According to a source, punters are directly placing bets with organisers while others are using the services of sub-agents. A punter on the condition of anonymity said most people were betting on the TRS winning 61 seats — the halfway mark.
He said that earlier bookies used to pay 50 per cent extra on the betting amount to winners but they were now offering 100 per cent extra. With this additional encouragement, people from Vijayawada, Guntur, Eluru, Visakhapatnam, Nellore and other areas were placing bets worth laks of rupees.
A source said people were betting on the results of Kukatpally and Kodangal seats from where N.T. Rama Rao’s grand-daughter Nandamuri Suhasini and TPCC working president A. Revanth Reddy contested the elections.
With all TV channels projecting the TRS as an easy winner, huge bets have been placed on the party to retain power. But after it became known that former MP Lagadapati Rajagopal had predicted a People’s Front victory, people placed bets on the Opposition alliance as well.
Telugu Desam leaders who campaigned in various Assembly constituencies for the Telangana election are happy that at least one survey has predicted an Opposition victory.
TD leaders are contacting their counterparts in the TS unit of the party and other constituents of the Prajakutami to know the pulse of voters.
There is a personal stake as well as there are fears that the blowback from the Telangana state elections could be felt by TD president and AP Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu who campaigned with great intensity.
