Feature
All is not well in Samajwadi Party over Presidential election
Lucknow: The Samajwadi Party appears divided on the eve of the presidential election with camps led by its patron Mulayam Singh Yadav and party chief Akhilesh Yadav all set to vote for rival candidates, triggering possibility of cross-voting.
Though the division in the party may not have any bearing on the election result, it will certainly complicate the family feud further, said an SP insider, requesting anonymity.
The sharp differences in the SP on the issue of presidential nominee was clear right from the day Ram Nath Kovind was chosen as the NDA nominee.
Soon after the announcement of Kovind s name, Mulayam had attended a dinner hosted by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath RPT Yogi Adityanath in honour of Prime Minister Narendra Modi here on June 20.
It was seen in political circles as a clear indication of Mulayam s support to the NDA candidate.
Significantly, the dinner was skipped by Akhilesh and Mayawati, who are supporting the opposition candidate.
The SP patron s vote for Kovind became a foregone conclusion the very day he openly described him as a “strong candidate”, said the SP insider.
“Ram Nath Kovind is a good candidate. I have a very old relations with him. BJP has selected a strong candidate. The most important thing is that the BJP has a majority,” Mulayam had said on record.
On expected lines, Shivpal, the warring uncle of Akhilesh, said that whatever his elder brother Mulayam decides was the last word for him, indicating that he too would back Kovind.
Opposition s candidate Meira Kumar met Akhilesh at the SP headquarters here on Friday before meeting BSP supremo Mayawati to seek votes.
Interestingly, Shivpal and another another senior party leader and MLA Azam Khan were conspicuous by their absence.
Akhilesh has instructed his MLAs to vote for opposition candidate Meira Kumar, who has “represented a secular ideology.
Sharp differences in Samajwadi Party on issue of presidential nominee:
SP spokesman Rajendra Chaudhary told PTI that Akhilesh Yadav has given instruction to his MLAs to vote for Kumar.
Chaudhary said Akhilesh has asked SP MLAs to vote for Kumar.
Another senior SP leader, who is also Leader of the SP Legislature Party, Ram Govind Chaudhary said, “Everyone should support Kumar.”
Ram Govind is also the Leader of the Opposition in the 403-member UP Lower House.
In a written appeal circulated to all SP MLAs, Kumar said that the presidential election has given one an opportunity to transcend petty politics and listen to the inner conscience.
Shivpal, meanwhile, has announced in Varanasi that he along with “several” SP MLAs and MPs will vote for Kovind.
“Kovind has very good relations with netaji (Mulayam). He is a good man and the best candidate, Shivpal, an MLA, said.
“Netaji jo kahengey wahi hoga” (Whatever netaji says will happen),” he said.
Shivpal-loyalist Deepak Mishra, though not a voter, pledged “open support to Kovind” and thanked the prime minister for his selection.
The SP has five members in the Lok Sabha, including Muayam, and 19 members in the Rajya Sabha, including Amar Singh, who is now an unattached member after his expulsion from the party, besides 47 MLAs in UP.
Since members of the Legislative Council are not part of the electoral college, Akhilesh an MLC cannot vote, though his wife Dimple, a Lok Sabha member, is eligible to participate in the exercise.
Mulayam was removed from the party s national president post and made a patron by Akhilesh in January at the peak of dissidence in the erstwhile ruling party which led to one of the most humiliating drubbings the party suffered in the political history of Uttar Pradesh.
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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