M A I N   N E W S

Bhiwani agog with betting on candidates
By Shubhadeep Choudhury
Tribune News Service

BHIWANI, Feb 13 — The gambling network in the Bhiwani market is bustling with activities in the wake of the Assembly elections in Haryana.

Betting in Halu bazaar, the main market in Bhiwani, normally takes place on cricket matches. However, with the elections round the corner, cricket has taken the backstage and speculation is rife on the more exciting event in the form of elections. Traders invariably refer to the ‘bhau’ of various candidates in the ‘satta bazaar’ when talking about the elections.

There was heavy gambling in the bazaar on whether Mr Ram Bhajan, the sitting Haryana Vikas Party (HVP) candidate from Bhiwani would get the ticket. Agents swung into action on February 2, one day before the deadline for filing of the nominations, and the response was tremendous. Mr Laik Ram, Superintendent of Police, Bhiwani, said at least Rs 50 lakh was transacted on speculation whether Mr Ram Bhajan would get the HVP ticket or not. Those who are involved in the trade, however, said nearly Rs 15 lakh was the amount that was involved in betting on Mr Ram Bhajan’s renomination.

Alarmed by the incident of February 2, the police filed an open FIR under the Gambling Act on February 5, although no arrest has been made so far. Meanwhile, the ‘satta’ network has again become active on who will become the Chief Minister, possible winners from various constituencies and so on. Betting is also taking place on the victory margin of the contestants, a trader, who is himself involved in ‘satta’, said.

Gambling is on as to whether Mr Om Prakash Chautala would once again become the Chief Minister. Mr Bhajan Lal, Mr Bansi Lal, Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda and other aspirants for the Chief Minister’s office are yet to figure in the ‘satta’ operators’ list. “Mr Chautala, being the Chief Minister, the operators are probably also a little scared of asking people to put their money on any other person for the Chief Minister’s post”, explained a business man.

For the Bhiwani seat, Mr Bansi Lal has the rate of 20 paise for each rupee speculated on his chances of victory. For Mr Vasudev Sharma, the Congress candidate and Mr Bansi Lal’s chief rival, the agents have offered the rate of Rs 5 for each rupee invested. For the Tosham seat, Mr Dharamvir Singh, the Congress candidate, is inviting a rate of 42 paise for each rupee. The rate for Mr Surinder Singh, Mr Bansi Lal’s son and the HVP nominee from Tosham, is Rs 2.50 for each rupee, and his chances are slim as per the assessment by operators.

Similarly, for each constituency of Bhiwani district and other important or closely fought constituencies outside the district, the operators are busy fixing the bets. “There are two groups of us consisting of a total of 10 persons”, confided a broker. He said a broker received only 2 per cent commission for a deal and the money was paid by the person who won the bet.

The brokers are also linked with the betting network in other cities such as Mumbai, Delhi, Surat, Ahmedabad etc. “In case they run short of cash, they go to Delhi and come back with money”, said a trader. He added that there was heavy betting in Bhiwani in the Lok Sabha elections too and Rs 60 lakh to Rs 70 lakh was traded on that occasion.

Telephone plays the key role for the gambling network for fixing deals and also to obtain information about various constituencies by brokers from their agents. The business is carried out clandestinely, though there are enough instances of brokers coming out in the open at Halu bazaar and inviting bids from people. The most-alarming aspect of this business is that many people consider the assessment made by the ‘satta operators’ as the true picture of the poll scene. A bank manager in Bhiwani, for instance, said Mr Bansi Lal would certainly win because his rate was low in the ‘satta’ market.

While talking to TNS, Mr Laik Ram, SP of Bhiwani, said the police was awake to all aspects of ‘satta’, including the role it plays in influencing voters. The massive gambling on Mr Ram Bhajan’s renomination was initiated by certain operators who had inside knowledge of the shape of things to come, he added. “Those who lost a lot of money suspected foul play and they came to us. That was how the police had come into the picture”, he said. He claimed that the police had already identified the key operators of the ‘satta’ network and the criminals would be soon arrested ‘red-handed’.