Feature
Rahul to contest LS polls from Wayanad, Amethi
In a major decision, the Congress on Sunday announced that party President Rahul Gandhi will also contest the Lok Sabha polls from Wayanad in Kerala, apart from his present constituency of Amethi in Uttar Pradesh.
“I am announcing one of the happiest news. Rahul Gandhi will also contest from Wayanad in Kerala,” party leader A.K. Antony said at a party briefing here.
Antony said that there had been continuous request from Congress workers and also from the allies that Gandhi should contest from a seat in the South.
“This demand was made from Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. There were deliberations here also. After that we requested Rahulji that ignoring the unanimous demand of southern states is not correct. Finally, he has given his consent,” he said.
He said Wayanad was found the most suitable as it is located at a tri-junction and was an ideal constituency.
“It is situated in Kerala and is surrounded by Tamil Nadu and Karnataka,” Antony said, adding that it will meet the demands of party workers in all the three states.
Gandhi, who has been representing Amethi, won the seat by a reduced margin in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls by defeating Union Minister Smriti Irani. She is challenging him again in the constituency in the 2019 elections as well.
Congress Communications incharge Randeep Singh Surjewala, who also addressed a press conference, repeatedly emphasised on Gandhi’s bonds and family ties with Amethi to negate any impression that his contesting from another seat was dilution of his links with the traditional seat of the Nehru-Gandhi family or that the party was perceiving a tough fight.
Surjewala said the Congress President has always stated that he cannot leave Amethi.
“He (Gandhi) has said several times that Amethi is his ‘karmabhoomi’ (place of work) and he is immensely attached to it. The relation is not of an elected representative but of a family member. Amethi is deeply embeded in Rahulji’s heart. It is an unbreakable link which cannot be destroyed by cheap conspiracies of the BJP, ” he said.
Surjewala accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of causing divisions and said that the lives of people in south India was important to the Congress and Gandhi.
Asked about the Left parties being an adversary of Congress in Wayanad, Surjewala said “this is not a fight with left or right”.
“This is a fight to espouse the aspirations of south India including Kerala to fight, to give befitting reply to forces who are attacking the culture, language, way of life, deep connect between north and south India which the BJP and Prime Minister have created a deep divide.
“This is a fight to give message to people of south India that they are deeply valued and respected. That their culture, language, way of life, food habits, clothes, entire way of life is important to Congress and people of India asA a unified country. That’s why he (Gandhi) said ‘I will represent Amethi but I will also represent southern states for they represent an important part of India’s way of life, India’s way forward’,” Surjewala said.
He said no one should question the wisdom of the people of Amethi who have in the past elected late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi.
“They know that the country and Amethi will progress with Gandhi.”
On Irani’s remarks that Rahul Gandhi was running away from Amethi, he said that she will complete hat-trick of defeat in this election having earlier lost from Chandni Chowk also.
Asked which seat will Gandhi retain if he wins both in Amethi and Wayanad, Surjewala said that when the Congress forms a government following the polls, the party President will represent the entire country.
The Wayanad Lok Sabha Assembly segments has seven assembly constituencies including three from from Wayanad district, one from Kozikode and three from Malappuram.
The assembly segments are Mananthavady, Sulthanbathery and Kalpetta in Wayanad, Thiruvambadi in Kozhikode and Ernad, Nilambur and Wandoor in Malappuram.
Senior leaders Ahmed Patel and K.C. Venugopal were also present at the press conference.
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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