Feature
Rallies set to raise political heat in Bihar in coming days
Patna: With less than a fortnight left for the first phase of voting in the Bihar assembly elections, star campaigners of various political parties are all set to address rallies across the state, raising the poll tempo in the coming days.
The political din in the poll-bound state has been slowly building up since the middle of September as leaders of the grand alliance and its arch rival, the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance, have addressed a series of rallies with each passing day.
Prominent seasoned campaigners who will address rallies in the coming days in Bihar include Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Bharatiya Janata Party president Amit Shah, Congress president Sonia Gandhi, Janata Dal-United president Sharad Yadav, and Communist Party of India-Marxist general secretary Sitaram Yechuri.
Former prime minister Manmohan Singh, senior BJP leader Lal Krishna Advani, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav and over a dozen union ministers will also address voters to seek support for their respective parties.
Modi is to address at least a dozen rallies during the campaigning in the state. He addressed four public meetings even before the dates for the Bihar elections were announced.
“Modi will address two or three rallies in each phase of Bihar polls,” BJP leader Sanjay Mayunjh said.
The prime minister is likely to address a rally in Banka district on October 2, followed by more rallies.
Congress leader Sonia Gandhi too is likely to address three rallies on October 3 whereas Manmohan Singh will address two public rallies in the second week of October.
On the other hand, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad – the star campaigners for the grand alliance of the JD-U, RJD and the Congress – have already addressed over a dozen rallies in the last two days.
Lalu Prasad formally kicked off his party’s campaign on Sunday by addressing a massive rally in Vaishali in Raghopur assembly constituency, where his younger son Tejaswi Yadav is contesting.
Nitish Kumar on Saturday formally kicked off the JD-U campaign by addressing a public meeting in Kalyanpur assembly segment in Samastipur district.
“Both Lalu and Nitish will address nearly a dozen rallies in different assembly constituencies separately as well as jointly,” RJD leader Ram Chandra Purve said.
The self-proclaimed ‘Third Front’, including the Samajwadi Party of Mulayam Singh Yadav, the Nationalist Congress Party and Jan Adhikar Party of expelled RJD MP Pappu Yadav, is also in the poll fray for all assembly seats.
Besides, Left parties like the CPI, CPI-M, CPI(Marxist-Leninist), Revolutionary Socialist Party, Forward Block and Socialist Unity Centre of India have joined hands for the first time to contest all seats.
Forty-nine of the total 243 assembly seats will go to polls in the first phase on October 12.
While the JD-U and RJD will contest 101 assembly seats each, the Congress will fight for 41 seats. The BJP will contest 160 assembly seats, its allies Lok Janshakti Party 40, Rashtriya Lok Samata Party 23 seats and Hindustani Awan Morcha 20 seats.
Elections in Bihar to elect the 243-member house will be held in five stages between October 12 and November 5. Counting of votes will be taken up on November 8.
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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