Feature
Once shy, Nitish takes to social media with zeal
By Prashant Kumar
New Delhi: For too long, he was shy, unlike most other politicians. But ever since the battle for Bihar began, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has embraced social media like never before, answering, to the delight of his fans, tens of thousands of questions.
As one challenging the might of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Bihar, Nitish Kumar, 64, is now one of the most familiar names on Facebook and Twitter, connecting a huge mass of admirers and supporters both in the country and abroad.
The Janata Dal-United (JD-U) leader is going all out to interact with his online followers.
On an average, the chief minister holds an hour-long Question and Answer session every 14 days under the “AskNitish” campaign. The campaign began on Twitter. Its success inspired him to take it to Facebook, more popular with Indians.
In the latest session held on October 11, as many as 13,374 questions were posed to Nitish Kumar, who heads the Grand Alliance of his own JD-U, the RJD and the Congress.
The questions relate to virtually every issue under the sky, ranging from his childhood and personal life to various aspects of politics including his animosity to Modi and his new friendship with RJD leader Lalu Prasad, a friend-turned-foe-turned-friend.
Some questions are actually suggestions — how to govern Bihar better.
The chief minister takes time to study the numerous questions, club together dealing with the same subject, and answer them in as much detail as possible, his aides say.
At times, 500-1,000 questions get answered together. However, there are very few instances of individual queries being responded to.
A special team looks after the Q&A sessions and helps Nitish Kumar answer most questions.
“While he himself tries to type and answer as many questions as he can, rest are answered under his supervision,” a party insider told IANS on the condition of anonymity.
But the response is being taken as a vote of confidence in the leader. JD-U MP K.C. Tyagi told IANS: “The massive response and the soaring number of questions show the popularity of Nitish Kumar. It is a very good thing. We expect a very positive result through this.”
His colleagues say this is a new Nitish Kumar, Bihar’s chief minister since 2005. A socialist at heart and a civil engineer graduate, he took to politics in 1974. He entered the Bihar legislature in 1985.
In the 2014 Lok Sabha election, when Modi’s social media campaign took India by storm, Nitish Kumar did not pay much heed to Twitter or Facebook. And he paid the price.
But unlike Modi, Nitish Kumar is focussing more on two-way interactions with initiatives like “Parcha pe charcha” (Discussion through pamphlets) and real-time interviews with the media on Twitter. He also holds “Janta Durbar” at his 7 Circular Road residence in Patna.
Admirers say Nitish Kumar’s new love for the virtual media has created a positive image of him, particularly among the young.
His Facebook pages include “Phir Ek Baar, Nitish Kumar” and “Badh Chala Bihar” to showcase the chief minister’s work in the last 10 years.
Interestingly, Nitish Kumar owes his new virtual media popularity to a former Modi aide, Prashant Kishore, who helped Modi to win millions of new supporters in 2014.
Nitish Kumar aides also say that the chief minister enjoys a strong rapport with Delhi Chief Minister and AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal, who too used the virtual media in a big way to rout the BJP in February.
But it remains to be seen if Nitish can do a Kejriwal in Bihar, where balloting to elect a 243-member assembly will end on November 5 and whose outcome will be known three days later.
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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