Betting Rs 15,000 crore
Bets of Rs 15,000 crore are running on the Indian Lok Sabha election scheduled for this month, says our source. In an elite residential area in Lutyens’ New Delhi, there is a spacious 3-bedroom flat which looks like the house of a rich businessman. Paintings of MF Hussain, SH Raza, Raja Ravi Varma and others adorn the walls of his big living room.
But, in reality, Mr Mehta (he does not give his first name) runs one of the largest election betting rackets from this flat. He is polite to a fault. He has more than 10 mobile phones on a table in the bedroom. He dials some numbers, talks to somebody for a few seconds and disconnects. His agents spread across north India keep calling him with news of big bets. He answers their calls, listens with rapt attention, utters a few words in a hushed tone, makes some entries in a small book and slides it beneath his pillow.
It’s difficult to see that you are actually sitting in front of one of India’s biggest bookies. Except for a dozen mobile phones, there is nothing which can arouse your suspicion. “I keep just 10-12 mobile phones. I don’t talk much on phone. Even if somebody is tapping my phones, they won’t be able to make out anything. No money comes here or goes from here. We have a secure place for that. In our business trust is everything,” Mehta says.
He also says that these days they also use Whatsapp and Facebook messenger service to make the transactions safer.
He claims that in north India alone, Rs 15,000 crore is running on the Lok Sabha elections. According to him, the Mumbai satta market is the largest with over Rs 30,000 crore running on the Lok Sabha election and the Ahmedabad market is worth another Rs 5000 crore. He puts another Rs 10,000 crore on the satta markets in Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad and the rest of India.
“We don’t know what will happen on May 16. But, everybody is betting on Narendra Modi. If he wins the PM race, for every Rs 100, the winner gets Rs 110-120 depending on the bet. If Rahul Gandhi wins the PM race, then every person will get
Rs 1000-1200 for his or her Rs 100 wager,” he says.