Feature
Political leaders from Uttar Pradesh settled in Mumbai to return back in state
Mumbai: With the four-phase Lok Sabha elections in Maharashtra coming to an end on Monday, politicians of all hues, especially those from Uttar Pradesh who are settled in Mumbai, are set to campaign in their home state.
Leaders of the BJP, the Congress, the SP and the BSP are expected to campaign for candidates of their respective parties in the northern state which votes in seven phases till May 19.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who topped the list of political leaders for holding maximum number of rallies in the state, will also hit the hustings in Uttar Pradesh.
When contacted, the CM told media persons on Tuesday that he is awaiting his formal campaign schedule.
According to highly-placed sources in the BJP, Fadnavis is likely to address at least 12 rallies, mainly in Eastern Uttar Pradesh, including in Varanasi and Gorakhpur.
In the recently-concluded elections in Maharashtra, the chief minister addressed a total of 87 rallies for the BJP-Shiv Sena combine.
“Besides Fadnavis, state Education Minister Vinod Tawde, MLA Raj Purohit, MLC R N Singh and few other leaders are slated to campaign in several Lok Sabha seats like Jaunpur, Azamgarh, Gorakhpur and Machhali Shahar in Purvanchal region, and also in Western UP,” party sources said.
Politically crucial Uttar Pradesh sends maximum 80 MPs to Lok Sabha.
“Given that Uttar Pradesh is politically most crucial state, we are going to make all out efforts to win it again.
All political leaders settled in Mumbai from Uttar Pradesh will return back to state:
The party office is chalking out a schedule for UP campaigners,” a party leader said.
Confirming this, state BJP spokesperson Madhav Bhandari said several leaders from Maharashtra have either gone to Uttar Pradesh or will be going soon.
Bhandari also said North Indian politicians settled in Maharashtra are volunterring to campaign for BJP nominees in their home state.
Mumbai BJP general secretary Amarjeet Mishra said from Lucknow that more than 70 workers of the party from Maharashtra will be arriving in the UP capital to campaign for Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh.
Mishra said many residents of Mumbai whose families live in Uttar Pradesh, will span across various districts in the northern state and spread word to vote for Modi.
Apart from the BJP, north Indian leaders of Congress in Mumbai like party MLA Naseem Khan and former legislator Kripashankar Singh to name a few, will also campaign in their home state.
Khan, who is already in UP, said he plans to address more than 24 rallies for Congress in the next eight days.
Senior Samajwadi Party leader and BMC corporator Rais Sheikh said Maharashtra chief of the party, Abu Asim Azmi is camping in UP.
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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