Feature
Gateway to west UP, Saharanpur in triangular fight
The gateway to western Uttar Pradesh, Saharanpur will see a cracker of a contest in the Lok Sabha polls with all the three main contenders – BJP, SP-BSP-RLD and Congress – focusing on the seat and putting up a strong fight.
Saharanpur goes to the polls on April 11 along with seven other seats in western Uttar Pradesh and the trend of voting here could have an impact on polling in the rest of the seats of the politically crucial state that sends 80 MPs to the Lok Sahha.
The significance of Saharanpur can be judged from the fact that the Uttar Pradesh BJP started its campaign for the Lok Sabha elections from the constituency and Bahujan Samaj Party-Samajwadi Party-Rashtriya Lok Dal held their first joint rally here.
The SP-BSP-RLD rally on Sunday at the Tibia College Ground here saw massive crowds with people saying that the show of strength of the three parties was bigger than the rally addressed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Adityanath had said at an event that the opposition alliance’s choice of Deoband was an indication “of its orientation and priorities”.
The Shakumbhari temple is about 40 km from Deoband. BJP President Amit Shah had launched BJP’s Parivartan Yatra in 2017 from Saharanpur.
This district and other places in western Uttar Pradesh had set the trend for the BJP’s landslide in the Assembly polls. The party’s performance in western Uttar Pradesh was better than in most other parts of the state.
But the situation is not the same for the BJP in this election. There appears no visible Modi wave, yet there is no marked anti-Modi sentiment either among people in large parts of western Uttar Pradesh. The party appears unlikely to win all the eight seats that go to the polls in the first phase.
The outgoing BJP MP Raghav Lakhanpal – a young leader who has studied management – was the winner last time as both the Congress and the Samajwadi Party had put up strong Muslim candidates and their votes got divided.
The scenario has repeated itself with the Congress again fielding Imran Masood, who lost to Lakhanpal by about 65,000 votes. The Bahujan Samaj Party has fielded Fazlur Rahman, who also has considerable clout in the area.
Masood had made “chop Narendra Modi into pieces” remark in 2014 elections and was asked to issue a public clarification by his party. His cousin Shadan Masood, son of his uncle Rasheed Masood, had contested as a Samajwadi Party candidate.
Muslim voters in the constituency appeared divided in their support for the two candidates.
Muslims, along with Dalit and Jat, make up more than half of 17.22 lakh voters in the constituency and together form a formidable combination.
The constituency has an estimated six lakh voters from the Muslim community, around 3.5 lakh Dalit voters and about two lakh from the Jat community.
Rakam, a 30-year-old security guard, said people in his village will vote for the Grand Alliance candidate as SP-BSP-RLD will get the maximum seats in Uttar Pradesh.
“The BJP has cheated us in the name of development. We have been given gas connection, but don’t have money to fill the cylinder,” he said.
Some voters, however, said they will vote for the Congress as the grand old party can form the government in the Centre.
“I voted BJP in last the Lok Sabha polls because of Narendra Modi but not this time. I will vote for the Congress,” says Mohammad Ishan, a carpenter.
Mohammad Ajmal, a resident of Khatakheri, said the coalition candidate will divide Muslim votes.
Prospects of Congress’ Imran Masood look good, especially after Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi’s meeting with Bhim Army Chief Chandrashekhar in Meerut last month. The Bhim Army emerged from Saharanpur and it has found a place among Dalit youths in western Uttar Pradesh. Priyanka Gandhi held a roadshow in Saharanpur on Tuesday.
The Saharanpur Lok Sabha constituency includes five Assembly seats — Behat, Saharanpur, Saharanpur Dehat, Rampur Maniharan and Deoband.
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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