Sawaikar a close second
TEAM HERALD
teamherald@herald-goa.com
PANJIM: Given the keen contest for the South Goa Lok Sabha seat, which goes to polls today, April 12, punters in Margao have seen a drastic change in the odds offered on Aleixo Reginaldo Lourenco over the last seven to eight days indicating that the ‘Satta Market’ now sees him as a clear winner.
Last week, the odds were Rs 1.50 per Re 1 on Reginaldo, which indicated a BJP win, but a string of factors seem to have shortened the odds on him drastically to Re 0.67 per Re 1. A bookie said that this means that more people are betting on Reginaldo to win. The odds on Narendra Sawaikar winning are Rs 1.25 per Re 1, which is a far cry from a week back when he was the strong favourite. Speaking about the other major political party Trinamool Congress and its candidate Churchill Alemao, his odds were pegged at Rs 5.50 to Re 1, which puts him out of the race by a mile.
The ‘Satta Market’ usually decides its odds with information from unknown sources. But since time immemorial, it has proven to be an ‘only profit’ making business. So if their information is to be believed, and going by the math, Reginaldo seems to be in the fore front not only to win, but to win by a comfortable margin.
A bookie (on condition of anonymity) said, “Elections come once in five years. People are enthusiastic about betting on their favourite candidate, but sometimes the odds of a particular candidate winning, influence them to bet and vote for the candidate with the winning odds.”
According to the buzz in the betting market in South Goa, the source informed that majority of the bets are being placed on INC Candidate Reginaldo Lourenco winning the election, coming in second is BJP candidate Narendra Sawaikar. However, a glaring observation is the number of people putting their money on Reginaldo winning by a margin of 30,000 to 40,000 votes. Bets are also being placed on Churchill polling around 15,000 votes, on which a large section of betters are eyeing profits. “The position, however, will be clear after polling day though. The market continues to grow with more and more people betting their money on candidates till the counting day,” he says.
“We don’t care who wins and who loses, but I say that with a view of the election, whereas our business is involved we have to keep a close eye on happening events and shifts in favor of the candidates involved.” says another bookie.
When a police official was asked about illegal betting operations, he said that the police always kept a close watch on such activities and would carry out arrests.
