Kolkata: A microphone promoting lotteries screams Rs. 1 crore and many more attractive prizes while shops are adorned with prominent television personalities from West Bengal endorsing “Dear Lottery”.
The promise of getting rich quick through lotteries is as common in rural West Bengal as political campaigning. Lottery shops have sprung up everywhere in recent years, offering daily games with multiple draws. The results are immediate, but for most, disappointment follows.
The most favoured lottery game is “Dear Lottery,” distributed by Future Gaming and Hotel Services, which has emerged as the top purchaser of electoral bonds, donating approximately Rs 1,368 crore to political parties from April 2019 to January 2024. As per information shared by the Election Commission, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) is the second largest recipient of electoral bonds totalling Rs 1609 crore.
A celebrity promoting lottery. Photo: Special Arrangement
“The Trinamool’s coffers have been filled with money by individuals engaged in various immoral acts of fraud. The general populace remains unaware of their clandestine operations, allowing these fraudulent activities to persist unchecked. The influx of funds into a regional party has far surpassed that of the century-old Congress party. It raises questions about the sources and motives behind these significant contributions,” said Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Choudhury.
Interestingly, at least three significant jackpot winners of “Dear Lottery” had close links with the ruling party of the state, Trinamool Congress.
In August 2022, Ruchika Gupta, the wife of Jorasanko MLA Vivek Gupta, struck a jackpot of Rs 1 crore in a weekly lottery organised by Future Gaming & Hotel Services Pvt. Ltd. A month earlier, Neru Singh, the sister-in-law of TMC’s Nalhati MLA Rajendra Prasad Singh, also claimed a Rs 1 crore prize.
A local newspaper cutout showcasing a Trinamool Congress leader’s relative as a lottery winner. Photo: Special Arrangement
Anubrata Mondal, the TMC leader in Birbhum who is currently under arrest, won Rs 1 crore in December 2021. According to a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) chargesheet, between 2019 and 2021, Anubrata and his daughter won the lottery four times.
How daily wage earners and housewives remain addicted
Despite the low odds, lottery tickets worth hundreds of crores of rupees are sold every day in West Bengal alone. Lottery tickets are a regular expense for many. Across the state, there is a sharp increase in suicide due to lottery addiction.
Some win small amounts, but the dream of a life-changing “crore” fuels the addiction for many, especially daily wage earners and housewives. Even recent crackdowns on fake ticket printing gangs and the circulation of counterfeit tickets haven’t deterred the lottery’s widespread popularity.
Also read: Firms Linked to Kolkata Industrialist Mahendra Jalan Spent Rs 617 Crore on Electoral Bonds
In Dhulian, Murshidabad, women beedi workers are frequent buyers, often using a portion of their daily wages. One such woman, hopeful of changing her life, justifies spending this money. She said, “This is not my haram [unlawful] money. Every day, I spend thirty rupees from my wage to buy tickets. If I am lucky, I will get it. If not, I know I am not lucky.”
Samir Mondal, a lottery ticket seller confirms that his customers are primarily those struggling financially, along with some unemployed businessmen. “This is a quick route to get rich. Mostly poor and unemployed people buy tickets. Very seldom, I have seen the rich buying lottery tickets.”
Translated from Bangla to English by Aparna Bhattacharya.
