Feature
BJP, SP to win equal number of seats in UP polls: Survey
New Delhi:The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the ruling Samajwadi Party (SP) in Uttar Pradesh appear to be in a neck-and-neck contest in the state assembly election due early next year, with Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) projected to come third, a survey said on Friday.
The India TV-C Voter survey projects BJP to win within a range of 134 to 150 seats, while the SP is projected to win 133 to 149 seats, both short of a clear majority in the 403-seat assembly.
The survey projected Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) to win 95 to 111 seats, while the Congress, which has already started a high-voltage poll campaign in the state, is projected to win only 5 to 13 seats. Others, including independents, are projected to win within a range of 4 to 12 assembly seats.
The survey is based on a “random stratified sample” of 20,642 respondents interviewed across all 403 assembly segments between August 1 and 31, and the data has been weighted to known demographic profile, according to C Voter, which conducted the survey.
Percentage-wise, the BJP has been projected to get 27.79 percent vote — with a huge swing of 12.78 percent in its favour — compared to 15.01 percent that the party garnered in the 2012 assembly polls.
The SP comes next with 27.51 percent, a 1.64 percent drop from its 2012 vote share of 29.15 percent. The BSP comes third with 25.44 percent, a 0.47 drop from its 2012 votes share of 25.91 percent, while the Congress vote share appears to have dropped from 11.63 percent in 2012 to 6.19 percent in the current survey.
Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav leads the list of ‘first choice for CM post’ with 32.8 percent in his favour, closely followed by BSP supremo Mayawati with 28.2 percent.
“Any BJP leader” gets 26 percent support while Congress chief ministerial candidate Sheila Dikshit comes fourth with 5.1 percent.
The BJP is yet to announce its chief ministerial candidate in UP.
Asked whether they wanted a change in the current state government, 58.6 percent respondents answered in the affirmative, but 34.8 per cent said No, with 6.6 percent undecided.
The present UP assembly’s tenure expires in March next year, and the elections are likely to be held in January-February.
The State Scores Extra High on Gaming-Friendly Industry Index
Meghalaya scored 92.85 out of 100 possible points in a Gaming Industry Index and proved to be India’s most gaming-friendly state following its recent profound legislation changes over the field allowing land-based and online gaming, including games of chance, under a licensing regime.
The index by the UK India Business Council (UKIBC) uses a scale of 0 to 100 to measure the level of legalisation on gambling and betting achieved by a state based on the scores over a set of seven different games – lottery, horse racing, betting on sports, poker, rummy, casino and fantasy sports
Starting from February last year, Meghalaya became the third state in India’s northeast to legalise gambling and betting after Sikkim and Nagaland. After consultations with the UKIBC, the state proceeded with the adoption of the Meghalaya Regulation of Gaming Act, 2021 and the nullification of the Meghalaya Prevention of Gambling Act, 1970. Subsequently in December, the Meghalaya Regulation of Gaming Rules, 2021 were notified and came into force.
All for the Tourists
The move to legalise and license various forms of offline and online betting and gambling in Meghalaya is aimed at boosting tourism and creating jobs, and altogether raising taxation revenues for the northeastern state. At the same time, the opportunities to bet and gamble legally will be reserved only for tourists and visitors.
“We came out with a Gaming Act and subsequently framed the Regulation of Gaming Rules, 2021. The government will accordingly issue licenses to operate games of skill and chance, both online and offline,” said James P. K. Sangma, Meghalaya State Law and Taxation Minister speaking in the capital city of Shillong. “But the legalized gambling and gaming will only be for tourists and not residents of Meghalaya,” he continued.
To be allowed to play, tourists and people visiting the state for work or business purposes will have to prove their non-resident status by presenting appropriate documents, in a process similar to a bank KYC (Know Your Customer) procedure.
Meghalaya Reaches Out to a Vast Market
With 140 millions of people in India estimated to bet regularly on sports, and a total of 370 million desi bettors around prominent sporting events, as per data from one of the latest reports by Esse N Videri, Meghalaya is set to reach out and take a piece of a vast market.
Estimates on the financial value of India’s sports betting market, combined across all types of offline channels and online sports and cricket predictions and betting platforms, speak about amounts between $130 and $150 billion (roughly between ₹9.7 and ₹11.5 lakh crore).
Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Delhi are shown to deliver the highest number of bettors and Meghalaya can count on substantial tourists flow from their betting circles. The sports betting communities of Karnataka, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana are also not to be underestimated.
Among the sports, cricket is most popular, registering 68 percent of the total bet count analyzed by Esse N Videri. Football takes second position with 11 percent of the bets, followed by betting on FIFA at 7 percent and on eCricket at 5 percent. The last position in the Top 5 of popular sports for betting in India is taken by tennis with 3 percent of the bet count.
Local Citizens will Still have Their Teer Betting
Meghalaya residents will still be permitted to participate in teer betting over arrow-shooting results. Teer is a traditional method of gambling, somewhat similar to a lottery draw, and held under the rules of the Meghalaya Regulation of the Game of Arrow Shooting and the Sale of Teer Tickets Act, 2018.
Teer includes bettors wagering on the number of arrows that reach the target which is placed about 50 meters away from a team of 20 archers positioned in a semicircle.
The archers shoot volleys of arrows at the target for ten minutes, and players place their bets choosing a number between 0 and 99 trying to guess the last two digits of the number of arrows that successfully pierce the target.
If, for example, the number of hits is 256, anyone who has bet on 56 wins an amount eight times bigger than their wager.
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