Vijayawada: No takers for betting in this election time

Vijayawada : Election period is one of the best times for the addicts to bet high stakes. Of course, betting is the favourite pastime for quite a few whether it is cricket or cock fights. However, betting during the elections is like taking the cake with cream.

Generally, several hundreds of crores, if not thousands of crores, change hands during the election period through betting. During the last general elections, many people lost sizeable amounts after the TDP lost the elections.

Many people thought that then chief minister and TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu would retain the power in spite of the blitzkrieg launched by then Opposition leader and YSR Congress Party president Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy. The ‘One Chance’ slogan coined by Jagan Mohan Reddy had become the catchphrase of the millions and everyone fell for it. As a result, Jagan Mohan Reddy bagged 151 Assembly constituencies and 21 Parliamentary constituencies.

This time, Jagan Mohan Reddy coined another catchphrase ‘Why Not 175’ hinting that he would win all the 175 Assembly constituencies across the state. He was confident that the freebies and benefits he transferred during the last 59 months would come to his rescue. In fact, the timing was perfect and everything was in place till the Assembly passed the AP Land Titling Act (LTA) and published the same in the gazette after the President of India approved it.

The campaign launched by the Opposition against the LTA cast a shadow on the benefits transferred by the YSRCP government to the beneficiaries all these years. Suddenly, everyone started thinking that it was a bad law and would certainly harm the people at large.

The change of events cast a shadow on the betting industry in Andhra Pradesh. There are hardly any takers for the betting.

A hardcore fan of Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy says he is not interested in betting when he knew for sure that he would lose. However, he evinces interest in betting on the winning chances of YSRCP. He offered to bet Rs 1 lakh provided he would get Rs 2.5 lakh if the party wins the elections. Another betting enthusiast wanted him to bet Rs 5 lakh and he would accept the challenge.

The betting pundits said that they did not come across enthusiasts this time across the state.