Feature
After Maharashtra now BJP ties alliance with AIADMK, PMK for Lok Sabha polls
Chennai: Tamil Nadu’s ruling AIADMK today announced it will fight the Lok Sabha elections in alliance with the PMK and BJP, allotting seven and five of the 39 seats respectively to them.
As per the deal signed by the three parties at a five star hotel here, the Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) will also get a Rajya Sabha seat to contest in 2019.
AIADMK Coordinator and Deputy Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam told the media that both the PMK and BJP will support the AIADMK in the Assembly by-elections due in 21 constituencies.
The AIADMK, under the leadership of then Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa, won a staggering 37 of the 39 Lok Sabha seats in Tamil Nadu in 2014. The BJP and PMK won one seat each, all three parties fighting on their own strength.
The first to go off the block on Tuesday was the pact with PMK, whose strongholds lie in the Vanniyar-belt in Tamil Nadu.
“Under the AIADMK-led alliance for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, PMK gets seven Lok Sabha seats. It will also get one Rajya Sabha seat,” Panneerselvam told reporters.
“This is a mega and strong alliance that will win in the Lok Sabha polls,” PMK Founder S. Ramadoss told reporters, a sentiment echoed by Union Minister and Tamil Nadu in-charge for BJP Piyush Goyal.
The PMK won six seats in the 2004 Lok Sabha election — its highest so far.
Later in the evening, Panneerselvam announced the AIAMDK-BJP pact, giving the latter five seats.
Piyush Goyal said: “We have agreed to contest the elections under the leadership of Chief Minister K. Palaniswami and Deputy Chief Minister Panneerselvam. All 40 seats in Tamil Nadu (39 seats) and Puducherry will be won by us.”
Asked about other parties like the DMDK, Goyal said the alliance will take place in due course of time. He said he will be meeting DMDK leader Vijayakant.
BJP after doing alliance in Maharashtra now ties with AIADMK, PMK for Lok Sabha polls:
The DMDK is expected to contest three seats, smaller parties a few more and the AIADMK 20 Lok Sabha seats in all, according to political sources.
In the 1999 Lok Sabha polls, the BJP won four seats from Tamil Nadu — its highest from the state.
Earlier, Ramadoss said the party had submitted several conditions the AIADMK had to fulfill.
These included declaring Cauvery delta region as protected agriculture zone; conducting caste census; releasing the seven persons convicted in former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi assassination; implementing old pension scheme for government employees; closing liquor shops and sand quarries in Tamil Nadu; preventing Karnataka from building a dam across Cauvery at Mekadatu; waiving farm loans and getting the state exemption from the common medical entrance exam or NEET exam.
Ramadoss explained the rationale for the tie-up: “PMK and AIADMK have agreed to fight and secure schemes for the welfare of Tamil Nadu in the central government that would be formed post elections.
“It is believed that the small compromise in the alliance matter, it would be beneficial for Tamil Nadu.”
According to him, the AIADMK government had accepted many of PMK’s suggestions.
Though PMK’s stand was to have no alliance with AIADMK or DMK since 2011, several changes have occurred in Tamil Nadu since then and the state’s rights have been abrogated in different means.
The PMK founder said the party should have sufficient number of members in the Lok Sabha to protect the state’s rights.
Contesting alone in the 2016 assembly polls, the PMK secured 5.6 per cent vote share though it did not win a single seat. It was this 5.6 per cent vote share that made PMK an attractive alliance partner.
Signs of an AIADMK-PMK deal were in the air as Ramadoss, who used to be very critical of the ruling party, remained silent on the issue of software company Cognizant Technology Solutions bribing Tamil Nadu government officials to get construction permits.
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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