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AAP not eyeing 2019 polls, will win Punjab: Kejriwal
New Delhi: The AAP has not set its eyes on the 2019 Lok Sabha elections but is confident of taking power in Punjab in 2017, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriewal said on Monday.
Addressing the AAP National Council meeting here, Kejriwal also made it clear that he remained opposed to RJD leader Lalu Prasad’s corrupt past and dynasty politics despite hugging him in Patna.
Nine months after he led the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) to a sweeping victory in Delhi, Kejriwal said the growth of the country’s youngest political party was “a miracle in itself”.
“We are not here for power politics,” the AAP leader told the delegates at a close door gathering. “People ask ‘2019 ki race mein ho kya?’,” he said, referring to the next Lok Sabha battle.
“‘Hum kisi race mein nahin hain. Dilli ki jeet karishma hai’ (We are not in any race. The victory in Delhi is a miracle.)
“We just have to keep working hard and honestly. Don’t run after elections.”
But he quickly added that Punjab, which elected the AAP’s all four Lok Sabha members in 2014 and where assembly elections are due in two years, would be an exception.
“All indications are that you (are) going to get the same opportunity in Punjab (as in Delhi),” he said.
Kejriwal also sought to clear the air over the criticism he faced for hugging Lalu Prasad at Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s swearing in at Patna on November 20.
He said Lalu Prasad was on the stage. “He shook hands, pulled me towards him and hugged me. And held my hand and raised it. This was projected (widely) and questions were asked.
“We have not formed an alliance (with RJD). We are against his (Lalu Prasad’s) record of corruption and will always oppose it. We are against his dynasty politics.
“His two sons are ministers. We are against that too.”
Kejriwal added: “I am happy that questions are being asked because people have hope (in AAP), because they think we are different.
“Nobdoy asks (these) questions when other leaders hug Laluji. This is good for us.”
The AAP leader defended his support to Nitish Kumar.
“Nitish is a good person. People have told us that Nitish has done good work. We worked against the BJP there and supported him.”
An income tax commissioner-turned-activist-turned-politician, Kejriwal said four years back he and his colleagues had never thought of even contesting elections.
“This three-year journey is a miracle in itself. It was beyond us. If we think we are doing it, we are wrong. It’s a divine scheme.”
He said battling corruption by bringing in a Jan Lokpal and ushering in Swaraj were the AAP’s aims.
He said in the last 10 months, the AAP had bettered the performance of the erstwhile Shiela Dikshit government.
He also took a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying he had the entire nation at his disposal but even he did not do what the AAP had done in Delhi.
“Let’s talk about corruption first,” he said, adding there had never been an instance when a government sacked its own minister found involved in corruption.
“We see how governments keep brushing corruption cases under the carpet, specially against their own ministers.
“But in case of our government, nobody knew about it. Someone had sent a clip on WhatsApp. We saw it and felt the minister was involved.
“We analyzed it and summoned the minister and confronted him. He confessed and we sacked him in an hour,” he said, referring to the ousted minister Asim Ahmed Khan.
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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