Feature
Rahul to launch campaign from village where Indira, Rajiv, Sonia started
Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Thursday launches his 2019 election campaign from the same tribal Lal Dungri village in Gujarat’s Dharampur where his grandmother Indira Gandhi in 1980, his father Rajiv Gandhi in 1984 and his mother Sonia Gandhi in 2004 started and romped home to power.
The party believes Lal Dungri (translated as Red Onion) brings good omen for it to rule the country. Many remote villages in this South Gujarat region recognise only the Congress’ hand symbol and remember only former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.
Not losing out on the fact that the Congress attaches historic importance to this region, the Bharatiya Janata Party moved in Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis from neighbouring Maharashtra to Dharampur on Wednesday, a day ahead of Rahul Gandhi’s Jan Akrosh Rally, to galvanise over 4,000 party workers at a ‘cluster meeting’ of the party’s rank and file in presence of state chief Jitu Vaghani.
The meeting, held at Rajchandra Ashram hall in Dharampur, was to address party workers of three Lok Sabha constituencies in South Gujarat dominated by Adivasis.
Fadnavis told party workers that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his government had got a clean chit on the Rafale fighter jet deal from the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) while the Congress leaders’ hands were sullied in AugustaWestland chopper deal.
Rahul Gandhi, meanwhile, was expected to make a strong statement against land acquisition for the bullet train in this region where angry farmers who are losing their fertile fields are locked in a battle with the government, the matter now awaiting a judgment in the Gujarat High Court.
Sources say there is also a move to hold a meeting of the party’s highest decision making body, the Congress Working Committee (CWC), in South Gujarat to demonstrate the importance the party gives to the state.
The decision to choose Gujarat over the Congress ruled states is a pointer in this direction.
This is besides Rahul Gandhi choosing to walk in the footsteps of Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi in Lal Dungri.
Though Fadnavis’ Dharampur visit was announced by the party only on Tuesday, BJP Gujarat General Secretary Bharatsinh Parmar insisted their meeting had been fixed earlier than the Congress rally.
The Congress party had announced to hold its ‘Jan Akrosh’ rally from here on February 6.
The Congress has pulled out all stops for the Lal Dungri rally and the state unit has galvanised its 75 legislators to ensure a big show.
Gujarat Congress chief Amit Chavda and Leader of Opposition Paresh Dhanani have been camping in the district headquarters of Valsad to oversee the preparations.
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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