Telangana: Punters bet big on Munugode bypoll, Rs 1,000 crore at stake

HYDERABAD: Bets worth close to Rs 1,000 crore are believed to have been placed on who will win the crucial Munugode by-election in Telangana. Sources familiar with the betting scene told TOI that the numbers are extremely high for a by-election given the stakes involved for all the three main parties in the fray - TRS, BJP and Congress.
Large scale betting on elections normally takes place only during general elections. But this time, apart from local punters, big players from Krishna, Guntur, Bheemavaram, Eluru, Ravulapalem, Tadepallygudem, Rajahmundry and Visakhapatnam have set up base in Hyderabad, with many seeing the by-election as a semifinal for the 2023 assembly polls. While polling will be held on November 3, counting will take place on November 6.
"The main punters have been operating from their respective areas, but some are banking on field reports and sending teams to Hyderabad to get a better sense of the mood among voters. They have been camping in the city for their operations for the past week. Some have even sent their people to get a feel of the ground reality from Munugode," said a local leader closely monitoring the situation.
Sources added that betting is happening on three counts - who would win the election, who would finish second and what the margin of the winning candidate would be.
Political heat in Munugode seems to be rising with every passing day. TRS and BJP are both fighting the election as if it is a do-or-die situation. This could be one of the reasons for huge betting,” a political analyst said. Sources added that in the Huzurabad battle in October 2021 bets worth only a few hundred crores were placed. In Munugode, total bets could go as high as Rs 2,000 crore.