On Sunday evening, the best bet was 100 seats for the BJP at the rate of 12-14 paise, though the rates vary between regions and different operators.
Most politicians, industrialists, traders, journalists and fixers rely a lot on the rates of the illegal Satta Bazaar to determine reliably who is winning and who’s losing in the polls. And millions form their opinions on the word of mouth publicity that the influential few do.
But is the Satta Bazaar dependable? DNA has learnt from very reliable sources in the Satta Bazaar that in order to spread an ‘all is well’ buzz, some powers that be, have bought off kingpins of the illegal trade. This essentially means that the image created by satta rates is not real.
The satta market is supposed to be a reflection of grassroots sentiments but, in recent times, because of the sheer force of money, it has ended up influencing sentiments instead of reflecting them. “Bhav (rates) floated by the Satta Bazaar are always seen as the benchmark for assessment of ground reality. They have their own network to determine the real ground scenario as they have contacts from the grassroots level to highly influential persons. People make their decisions and form opinions on the basis of satta rates, assuming that the satta traders who had put their money on bets won’t go wrong,” said a highly-placed source in the know of the goings-on in the trade.
“Dinesh Kalgi is believed to be the kingpin of the satta market in Gujarat. Other main operators function out of Tharad, Deesa, Mehsana and Maninagar. Kalgi is well-known for his political links. This time, it is believed that his political bosses have arm-twisted him to ensure that the state-wide betting does not reflect a negative sentiment about their party. Kalgi, in turn, has influenced some 40 other big operators who work with about 400 small and big betters in and outside Gujarat,” an operator in the market, requesting anonymity, confided.
Claiming that Gujarat elections are attracting among the highest bets in the country at this time, he said that his conservative estimate was that upwards of Rs500crore will exchange hands in this illegal industry by the time elections conclude this month.
Rates change multiple times in a day, and swing sharply in the event of a major development like a senior leader joining or leaving a party, announcement of candidates or a particularly significant public rally.
On Sunday evening, the best bet was 100 seats for the BJP at the rate of 12-14 paise. The rates vary between regions and different operators.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}