Bookies bet on Congress win in election

By Sanjeev Miglani

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - If India's faceless bookmakers are any guide, the ruling Congress party will probably scrape through the current election with Manmohan Singh the firm favourite to retain the prime ministership.

Wednesday is the final day of a month-long election involving more than 700 million voters. But with no single party expected to win an outright majority, the election has become a game of securing the highest number of allies to boost parliamentary numbers.

Betting is illegal in India. But in a maze of back alleys in the old quarter of Delhi, bookies, between taking bets on all-time favourite cricket, are working the phones and taking bets on the next government ahead of the actual vote count on Saturday.

"There is no other business at the moment. People are either betting on cricket (Indian Premier League) or on who will form government," said a gold trader sitting on the floor of his tiny shop in front of a bank of phones.

Congress is favoured to take 140 seats in the 543-member parliament, the highest among all the parties, but still far short of the half-way mark of 272 required to rule. It is banking on regional allies and possible support from communists to shore up the numbers.

The Bharatiya Janata Party is expected to win 125-130 seats, but the odds are improving that they will win more.

Singh is the evens favourite to take the prime ministership, while BJP leader Lal Krishna Advani is considered a 3-1 chance to win the top job.

"There is no other candidate," said another trader who said he was in touch with people who were involved in the betting business.