Feature
BJP set to form government in Jharkhand
Ranchi/New Delhi: The BJP Tuesday said it was ready to form a stable government in Jharkhand, with party president Amit Shah crediting the election victory to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“It is for the first time that people of Jharkhand have given a clear mandate in an assembly election to the BJP,” Shah told journalists in New Delhi. “We will form a majority government.”
Shah said his party was poised to win 41 seats in the 81-member assembly. Its ally, the All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU), won four seats.
He credited the victory in Jharkhand — and the BJP’s good showing in Jammu and Kashmir — to the achievements of Modi’s six-month-old central government.
“People’s love and respect for Modi has translated into this victory (in Jharkhand),” Shah said, referring to a state that has seen a as many as nine chief ministers in the past 14 years.
Earlier, state BJP president Ravindra Kumar Rai told IANS: “We will form a stable government in Jharkhand.
“We were hoping to get a two-third majority but have fallen short of the 50 seats we were hoping to win,” he said.
Vote count that began in the morning showed that the BJP was coasting to victory. It could get around 40 seats, more than the 18 it held in the outgoing assembly.
Modi had addressed a number of rallies in the state in the run up to the five-phase polls.
“Forming government in Jharkhand is imminent,” said Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar outside parliament in New Delhi.
The ruling Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) seemed set to improve its performance, bagging around 20 seats. It was an improvement from 18 seats that it won last time, but woefully short of the halfway mark.
The JVM was headed for victory on eight seats while the Congress was set to get four seats.
Almost all the exit polls after the five-phase election had predicted a BJP win in Jharkhand.
It was a day of big upsets, with even former chief ministers biting the dust.
Chief Minister Hemant Soren contested from two seats. He won from Barhait but was trailing in Dumka.
Former chief minister Madhu Koda, accused of corruption, lost the poll from Majhgao assembly seat.
Another former chief Minister, Babulal Marandi, was trailing in Dhanwar. Arjun Munda, also a former chief minister, trailed from Kharsawa seat.
The BJP, which contested the polls in alliance with the AJSU and the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP), fielded candidates in 72 seats. The AJSU had put up candidates in eight places. The LJP had one candidate.
The Congress contested 60 seats while its allies RJD fielded 19 candidates. The CPI and CPI-M fielded candidates respectively in 24 and 13 constituencies.
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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