BENGALURU: With just five days for the Channapatna bypoll results on November 23, betting fever is raging through the constituency and also in neighbouring Mandya district.
With Congress party’s CP Yogeshwara, former minister and turncoat, having locked horns with former prime minister HD Deve Gowda’s grandson Nikhil Kumaraswamy, the results look unpredictable.
A day after polling, Yogeshwara had remarked that Housing Minister Zameer Ahmed Khan’s “racist” comment on Union minister HD Kumaraswamy could have an impact and claimed the contest will end in a photofinish. Yet, nothing has diminished the spirit of the bettors, with JDS sympathisers showing more enthusiasm.
They are ready to bet 2:3 against the odds -- it means a punter who bets on the JDS is ready to cough up Rs 3 lakh against Rs 2 lakh for the Congress candidate. According to sources, some leaders, especially from Mandya, are also involved and have huge stakes in the bypoll results.
A risky gamble
“If political parties spent over Rs 200 crore on electioneering illegally, at least a quarter of that amount might be pumped into betting by punters,” a leader speculated. Regardless of the predictions, some bettors have also lured opponents into the risky game, he said.
Congress sympathisers claimed that after Yogeshwara’s statement of a photo-finish result, the spirit among party sympathisers and small-time bettors came down by at least 20 per cent. “Yogeshwara might have made the statement to safeguard Congress workers from indulging in betting as the results are bound to be unpredictable and will end in a photo-finish,” former Bengaluru Rural MP DK Suresh said.
Don't place bets, stay calm till results are out: Nikhil
HARADANAHALLI: WhIle placing bets on election results has always been cause for concern, NDA Channapatna candidate Nikhil Kumaraswamy has stepped in to advise those indulging in this activity. Nikhil, the grandson of former PM HD Deve Gowda, urged people not to indulge in betting on Monday, stating that it negatively impacts families.
Speaking to reporters after visiting his home deity in Haradanahalli of Holenarasipur taluk, Nikhil said he is aware of people having invested crores of rupees in betting around the impending results of the bypolls, including that of Channapatna.
Accordingly, he asked them not to waste their money over the results under any circumstances, since many families have been destroyed by this vice. Nikhil said leaders, party workers and followers of political leaders, should instead stay calm till the results are announced.
