Feature
After early hiccups, BJP all set to retain power in Gujarat
Gujrat : The ruling BJP was on Monday set to retain power in Gujarat, with its candidates on the victory lap in 104 of the 182 seats as the Congress again settled for the second place but with an improved showing.
After surprisingly leading over the Bharatiya Janata Party at one point and sending the stock market crashing, the Congress began to trail to the BJP again. Election Commission officials said the Congress was expected to grab 75 seats.
The BJP won 115 seats and the Congress 61 in 2012.
BJP supporters began celebrating in Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar even though some of its leaders, including Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel (Mehsana), were trailing to the Congress as officials counted the millions of votes polled on December 9 and 14.
Chief Minister Vijay Rupani too trailed at one time in Rajkot West but managed to reverse the situation after a while and ultimately won, the officials said.
Dalit leader Jignesh Mevani, with Congress backing, was leading by 6,900 votes.
As the BJP crossed the half-way mark of 92, the BJP heaved a sigh of relief. But the trends were very different from the exit poll predictions of a sweeping win for the BJP.
BJP President Amit Shah had repeatedly claimed that his party would bag 150 seats.
As overjoyed Congress activists, expecting a victory, began celebrating early in the day, the stock markets took a beating. But the Congress celebrations were shortlived — and the stock markets made a quick recovery.
Modi, who had been the Gujarat Chief Minister from 2001 until he became the Prime Minister in 2014, flashed a V sign outside Parliament. Modi was the main campaigner for the BJP in Gujarat, his home state.
“We will form a government both in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh,” Home Minister Rajnath Singh said in New Delhi.
Before the BJP crossed the half-way mark, Congress spokesperson Shobha Oza had said her party was equally confident of coming to power in Gujarat, saying people were “sick and tired of the 22 years of BJP misrule”.
The BJP’s better showing came from South Gujarat, Central Gujarat and North Gujarat. The Congress led in 33 seats in Saurashtra region compared to the BJP’s 20.
The BJP was ahead in 26 seats (Congress 9) in South Gujarat. In Central Gujarat, BJP nominees had forged ahead in 27 constituencies (Congress 12) and in 31 seats in North Gujarat (Congress 21).
It was the first Assembly election in Gujarat after Modi became the Prime Minister.
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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