You bet-cha!

<div class="section1"><div class="Normal"><span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Bihar has election fever. And guess who''s feeling the heat? Mumbai, as it bets on the outcome!</span><br /><br />It''s election time in Lalu Prasad Yadav''s land. And look who''s trying to make the most out of it -- punters in Mumbai! The city is currently witnessing a craze for the Bihar elections to be held in February and money is flowing in from Mumbai.<br /><br />Bookies say that so far, bets worth about Rs 200 crore have been witnessed in Mumbai alone.The bookies had begun to accept bets in December 2004. The amount in Mumbai, bookies point out, will easily touch Rs 500 crore till the elections are over.<br /><br />Moreover, it''s not only Lalu who''s attracting the money, but also actor and politician Shatrughan Sinha. The actor was recently announced as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate for chief minister. However, it''s the other thing that Sinha is the least favourite to become the CM as bookies feel that the BJP holds hardly any chance to get a majority.<br /><br />As per the rates quoted, Lalu''s wife Rabri Devi (the sitting CM) remains the favourite and is quoted at Rs 1.35 per rupee bet. She is followed by Nitish Kumar, who''s quoted at Rs 4.50 and then Ramvilas Paswan at Rs 12. Sinha figures on the lowest in the list and his chances are quoted at Rs 25. However, bookies say that punters are still putting money on Sinha, in spite of the odds.<br /><br />Party-wise, Lalu''s Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) is the favourite to form the government with a rate of 67 paise per rupee bet. Bookies believe that the RJD will form the government in alliance with the Congress. RJD is followed by the BJP and Nitish Kumar''s Janata Dal (United) combine, with Rs 1.40. Then comes Paswan''s Lok Janshakti Party which is quoted at Rs 10 per rupee bet.<br /><br />Meanwhile, the craze for Bihar is evident from the amount of money being put in the Jharkhand and Haryana elections which are also going to be around the same time. As compared to Rs 200 crore put only on Bihar elections by Mumbai punters, the other two states together have so far witnessed betting worth only about Rs 150 crore.<br /><span style="" font-style:="" italic="">manish.pachouly@timesgroup.com</span></div> </div>