Feature
Violence marked as low voters turnout during 6th phase of LS polls in UP
Lucknow: Sporadic violence, scuffles and allegations of vote rigging marked the sixth phase of the Lok Sabha elections in Uttar Pradesh in which polling was held on 14 seats.
The voter turnout was recorded at 50.6 per cent at 5.p.m., which was comparatively lower, mainly due to intense heat wave conditions prevailing in the eastern parts of the state.
The highest voter turnout was in Ambedkar Nagar where 55.24 per cent polling was recorded. The lowest turnout of 46 per cent was in Phulpur.
The 14 seats that went go to polls in the sixth phase are Sultanpur, Pratapgarh, Allahabad, Phulpur, Ambedkar Nagar, Shravasti, Dumariaganj, Basti, Sant Kabir Nagar, Lalganj, Azamgarh, Jaunpur, Machhlishahr and Bhadohi.
A total of 177 candidates contested in these 14 constituencies, where 2.53 crore people were eligible to vote at 16,998 polling centres.
Reports of violence came from Azamgarh where the convoy of Samajwadi Party leader Durga Yadav was attacked on Sunday evening. Samajwdai leaders lodged complaints of polling officials casting fake votes and also preventing elderly voters from casting their votes.
Uttar Pradesh records low voter turnout amid clashes during 6th phase of LS polls:
The Samajwadi Party lodged complaints with the Election Commission in this regard.
Samajwadi Party President Akhilesh Yadav is a candidate from Azamgarh and he is pitted against BJP candidate and Bhojpuri star Dinesh Lal Yadav Nirahua.
In Jaunpur, violence was reported when a man was seen wiping his shoes with a BJP flag. BJP supporters beat up the man which led to clashes, and the police had to resort to lathi-charge to disperse the mob. Polling was not affected during the incident.
In Sultanpur, tension prevailed throughout the day after BJP candidate Maneka Gandhi accused her BSP rival Sonu Singh of ‘terrorising’ voters. Sonu Singh, who came face to face with Maneka Gandhi at one point, said that he was being unnecessarily targeted by the ruling BJP.
In Bhadohi, BJP MLA Dinanath Bhaskar allegedly beat up a presiding official in the Aurai Assembly segment after accusing the officer of deliberately slowing down the polling process.
Allegations of booth capturing by BJP supporters in Phulpur were leveled by the other candidates. When the police tried to remove the BJP supporters form the polling station, they pelted stones in which two policemen were injured.
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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