Feature
Kejriwal, Mamata meet in Delhi ahead of Bihar polls
New Delhi: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his West Bengal counterpart Mamata Banerjee shared a stage here in a declaration of sorts of a joint front of non-NDA state governments. The message was clear — disenchantment with the Narendra Modi-led central government.
Both chief ministers said this meeting was just the beginning of putting in motion the implementation of a federal structure that was being impinged upon by the central government.
“Declaring (state government) orders null and void is not good… What is happening in Delhi and other states is not co-operative federalism. It is a danger,” said Banerjee, while addressing the gathering at a city hotel, in an obvious reference to the ongoing Lieutenant Governor-CM spat in Delhi.
Speaking about her own state, Banerjee said decisions were being taken by the West Bengal governor, without informing her.
“Security forces were requested by the governor from centre ahead of the West Bengal municipality elections, and I was not even told. Thanks to ministry of home affairs that informed me about the move. This is an example of running a parallel government which is not co-operative federalism,” Banerjee asserted.
Speaking to IANS, Banerjee said: “You can expect something good to come out of this (meeting). We all will meet again very soon.”
Kejriwal pointed to the 30 orders of the Delhi government declared “null and void” by Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung.
“This is the first time in 23 years (of Delhi government) that 30 orders have been struck down by the Lieutenant Governor. Intervention by the centre in state matters is not right.”
The meet was crucial given that the Bihar poll is less than a fortnight away.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar could not attend as he was busy with the assembly election, Kejriwal said.
However, Delhi government sources said the idea of such a meeting of non-NDA chief ministers in Delhi was first suggested by Nitish Kumar.
Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar was also a part of the deliberations on co-operative federalism, but did not participate in the public address that was handled by Kejriwal and Banerjee.
Puducherry Chief Minister N. Rangaswamy and Mizoram Chief Minister Lalthanhawla were also expected to participate in the meet, but were not present due to prior work commitments.
Kejriwal, however, told IANS: “It was a mistake to announce the date of the consultation in advance.”
“We announced the date. That was a mistake. We should have consulted all the six chief ministers for a suitable time. Mizoram CM was busy with some finance work, but Puducherry CM has written a very strong letter of support to us,” Kejriwal told IANS.
Nitish Kumar and Lalthanhawla have also sent letters of support.
“You can expect something major out of this (meeting of CMs). Soon we will all meet again after the Bihar polls,” Kejriwal told IANS when asked if this was a consolidation of a secular opposition in the country.
Kejriwal, however, said he had spoken to chief ministers of different parties including the Congress and extended an invitation for the meet.
But they could not attend because of various reasons from prior work commitments to “political compulsions”, as Kejriwal put it.
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat was also invited and was reportedly supposed to attend this meet. But government officials said he did not respond to the invite.
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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