Believe it or not, fans who had bet on the victory of Jana Sena Party chief and power star Pawan Kalyan in Gajuwaka assembly constituency in Visakhapatnam in 2019 assembly elections had lost a whopping Rs 100 crore.
This was disclosed by none other than YSR Congress party legislator Tippala Nagi Reddy who defeated Pawan in Gajuwaka with a majority of over 16,000 votes, upsetting all the calculations of poll pundits and fans of Pawan Kalyan.
Nagi Reddy told reporters the other day that he, too, was not sure about his victory when he came to know that Pawan would be filing his nomination from Gajuwaka.
“After filing his papers, Pawan addressed a meeting which was attended by all his party candidates for assembly and Lok Sabha constituencies. The entire party cadre came to his meeting,” he recalled.
However, Pawan failed to attract even one-third of the crowds that turned up for YSRC president Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy’s meeting.
“It gave us a lot of confidence that Pawan is going to lose in the elections,” Nagi Reddy said.
He reminded that those who came to Gajuwaka to work for Pawan Kalyan had also conducted their own survey and realised that the actor would definitely lose the elections.
“They vacated the hotels and went back to their respective places,” he said.
As the electioneering reached its peak, there was a heavy betting between Rajus, who had come from East Godavari and Kapus from Visakhapatnam. While Rajus predicted the YSRC victory, Kapus had bet on Pawan Kalyan.
“The stakes were as high as Rs 100 crore,” Nagi Reddy recalled.
And after the results were declared, Kapus were shattered.
“My friends from East Godavari told me that they had won Rs 100 crore in betting following my victory,” the YSRC MLA said.