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BJP’s C.P. Thakur ready to be Bihar CM candidate

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9 years ago

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Patna:  In a move likely to put the BJP in a dilemma, senior party leader and former union minister C.P. Thakur on Monday said he was ready to be chief ministerial candidate in the run-up to the Bihar assembly elections.

“I am ready to take the responsibility of the chief minister’s post if the BJP projects me,” the BJP’s Rajya Sabha member said.

Ananth Kumar, who is in charge of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s affairs in Bihar, on June 16 announced that the party will not announce its chief ministerial candidate for the assembly elections – slated for September-October – and instead fight the electoral battle in the name of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

On Sunday, the BJP’s ally Rashtriya Lok Samata Party passed a resolution to demand that its party chief and union minister Upendra Kushwaha be made the NDA’s chief ministerial candidate in the state.

In his early 80s, Thakur belongs to the powerful landed upper caste Bhumihars, who are said to be overwhelmingly backing the BJP in post-Mandal politics in the state.

In fact, speculation in political circles here is that the BJP may change its earlier stand of not announcing its chief ministerial candidate.

“The BJP is likely to announce the name of former deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi as the chief ministerial candidate soon,” a BJP leader close to Sushil Modi said.

Sushil Kumar Modi, who is from a backward caste, is the most influential face of the BJP in Bihar and commands respect even among the upper castes, say some leaders.

However, the former Bihar deputy chief minister’s disadvantage lies in the fact that two BJP leaders from the backward caste are dead set against him.

Since last year, a powerful group of upper caste leaders in the BJP has been opposing the projection of Sushil Modi as the chief ministerial candidate.

According to BJP insiders, Thakur’s statement is a reflection of a deep-rooted tussle between leaders of upper castes and other backward castes (OBCs) within the party.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and party president Amit Shah are said to be taking steps to ensure that none of these leaders is allowed to dominate the public debate till the polls, fearing it may anger either of the groups and cause a loss to the party’s social support base.

“The BJP in Bihar is a divided house. To project a leader from either the OBCs or the upper castes as a chief ministerial candidate will antagonise the other group. The BJP is not in a position to project any one person against Nitish Kumar, who was declared chief ministerial candidate by the alliance of Janata Dal-United, Rastriya Janata Dal, the Congress and National Congress Party,” said a senior BJP leader, who did not wish to be named.

Another BJP leader said that the BJP was sure of its traditional base of upper castes remaining intact in Bihar. Its worry was now to consolidate the backward castes after RJD chief Lalu Prasad joined hands with Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.

In the caste-ridden Bihar politics, there are over half a dozen leaders from the upper castes and the backward castes who have staked claims as chief ministerial candidate of the BJP. “All of them are lobbying hard,” the BJP leader said.

In Bihar, all election arithmatic relies on castes. Most parties also lean on backward castes, Dalits and Muslims. Even the Congress, till its influence began to wane since 1989, aimed to secure support of such a combination.

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Meghalaya Reserves Legalized Gambling and Sports Betting for Tourists

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2 years ago

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June 25, 2022

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PureWin Online Betting

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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