Feature
Around 22 percent turnout in Bengal polls’ fourth phase
Kolkata:Nearly 22 percent turnout was recorded in the first two hours after polling began in 49 constituencies spread over two districts – Howrah and North 24 Parganas – bordering Kolkata in phase four of the West Bengal assembly elections on Monday.
“Till 9.00 a.m., 21.87 percent turnout was recorded, with 22.63 percent in North 24 Parganas and 20.34 percent in Howrah,” said an Election Commission (EC) official.
While the EC claimed the polls to be peaceful so far, the BJP and the Congress alleged false voting in some of the booths.
BJP’s Roopa Ganguly contesting from Howrah North alleged false voting in one of the booths and also faced angry protests from alleged Trinamool Congress activists.
Her rival from the Trinamool, retired international cricketer Laxmi Ratan Shukla, denied the charges and claimed polling was peaceful in the constituency.
North 24 Parganas, a part of which falls under the world’s largest mangrove forests – the Sundarbans – has 33 constituencies. The remaining 16 are in Howrah.
Over 1.08 crore (1,08,16,942) voters across 12,481 polling stations, including 27 auxiliary booths, are eligible to decide the fate of 345 candidates – 40 of them female – between 7.00 a.m. and 6.00 p.m.
The Election Commission has used 14,353 electronic voting machines (EVM) and 680 Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT).
A total of 672 companies of central forces and 23,000 state police personnel have been deployed, in addition to other measures, to ensure free and fair polls in the two districts, considered volatile in view of their history of political clashes and poll-related disturbances in past elections.
In the Sundarbans region, equipped with ham radio operations to solar lights, officials have gone the extra mile to ensure the electorate gets a chance to exercise their voting rights.
In the 2011 assembly polls, the Trinamool – then an ally of the Congress – had bagged 43 of the 49 seats. The Congress had got two, the Left Front spearhead Communist Party of India-Marxist three and the Communist Party of India one.
The Trinamool and the Bharatiya Janata Party are in fray in all the constituencies. The Left Front constituents and the Congress are contesting 46 seats, leaving one seat to Janata Dal-United, besides backing two independents.
Khardah in North 24 Parganas district is yet again witnessing a battle between two economists – state finance, industries and information technology minister Amit Mitra of the Trinamool and Asim Dasgupta of the CPI-M.
In Bidhannagar, that includes the posh Salt Lake, an abode of celebrities, top administrative and police officials, and well-heeled professionals, the Congress has nominated renowned lawyer Arunava Ghosh, who is taking on sitting legislator Sujit Bose of the Trinamool.
Another constituency hogging the limelight is Kamarhati, from where Saradha scam accused Madam Mitra, now in custody, is in the race on a Trinamool ticket.
Among major candidates are a number of state ministers and BJP’s only sitting legislator Samik Bhattacharya.
The Trinamool has given nomination to former India footballer Dipendu Biswas (Basirhat South), and late Board of Control for Cricket in India president Jagmohan Dalmiya’s daughter Baishali Dalmiya (Bally).
Earlier, voters in 167 of the state’s total 294 assembly constituencies exercised their right to franchise on April 4, 11,17 and 21 in the first three phases.
Polling in the, fifth and sixth phases will be held on April 30 and May 5 for 53 and 25 constituencies, respectively.
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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