Bookies place their bets on AAP

The Aam Adami Party’s chief ministerial candidate, ArvindKejriwal, at the Scared Heart Cathedral Church at GoleDakkhana in New Delhi on Friday. Photo: Sandeep Saxena

Bookmakers, punters and gamblers in the Capital are putting their money on a clean sweep by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) even as intelligence agencies insisted that the AAP and the BJP were still neck and neck in the race for the Delhi Assembly.

According to sources in the intelligence, how the two main contestants fare in 10 – 12 “important” seats will determine the outcome of the polls. The bookies and intelligence agencies are, however, agreed one thing: that the party which forms the government will win 35 to 40 Assembly seats.

“Between Monday and Wednesday, we received most bets on AAP forming the government and the BJP coming in second,” a bookie based in Rohtak, Haryana, told

The Hindu . “But, the trend changed around Thursday morning, which was the last day of campaigning. Throughout Friday, those who had placed their money on AAP returned with double wagers on the BJP, because its (the former’s) chances of forming the government are now slimmer,” the bookie added. According to punters, the AAP is expected to form a government with 37 or 38 seats with the BJP following with 30 or 31.