Feature
Ram Vilas Paswan not leader of Dalits: Manjhi
Patna: Fissures among the BJP’s dalit allies in Bihar came out in the open on Tuesday, as former Bihar chief minister Jitin Ram Manjhi said union minister Ram Vilas Paswan of the LJP was neither a leader of Dailits nor had he done anything for them.
Targetting the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) chief, Manjhi, a Dailit leader who was recently expelled from the Janata Dal-United (JD-U), sought to question Paswan’s credentials to project himself as a Dalit leader, saying: “Ram Vilas Paswan is not the leader of Dalits in Bihar.”
“He (Paswan) has not done anything for Dalits and poorest of the poor,” added Manjhi, the president of the Hindustan Awam Morcha (HAM), a part of BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) alliance, at a press conference here.
Manjhi said: “If Paswan has done anything for them, he should come forward to explain to the people. Paswan should reveal what special he has achieved for Dalits and poor.”
Manjhi expressed his displeasure over Paswan’s recent statement that Manjhi was on trial in the NDA. “Paswan has told about me that Manjhi was on trial in NDA. How can he say this? I am in politics since 1980. I was a legislator, minister and even chief minister for a short period. Is it trial period? On what basis Paswan is a national leader?”
“I am still fighting for the poorest of the poor. Paswan has failed to fight for the poor and hardly bothered to raise the issues related to the downtrodden, marginalised, backwards and poorest of the poor. Not a single day Paswan has demanded rights for them,” Manjhi said.
On Monday, Manjhi accused Paswan of adapting the dynasty politics, saying: “Paswan is promoting his son Chirag Paswan and his brothers within the LJP at the cost of everyone else.”
He said Paswan was only worried about his family, not Dalits.”Most of the LJP’s posts are headed by his son, brothers and son-in law.”
According to leaders close to Manjhi, he targeted Paswan for his alleged bid to reduce his party HAM’s bargaining power in BJP led NDA over seat sharing which is yet to finalise.
Besides, what angered Manjhi that Paswan reportedly claimed that Manjhi may not be able to transfer support of his caste -Mushahar (locally known as rat eater) in favour of the NDA.
Infact, the LJP asked the BJP last week not to give tickets to rebel JD-U legislators who have joined HAM and planning to contest the coming assembly elections.
LJP parliamentary board chairman Chirag Paswan has told BJP national president Amit Shah to keep such leaders out of the NDA and not give them tickets to contest the assembly polls either as candidates of the BJP or its allies.
Manjhi’s HAM has staked claimed for over 30 seats including 13 sitting legislators (all rebel JD-U) and the LJP has staked claimed for over 50 seats. Another BJP’s ally Rashtriya Lok Samta Party (RLSP) of union minister Upender Kushwaha is also staking claim for over 40 seats.
However, BJP is not ready to give more than 83 seats to its three allies and likely to contest 170 to 160 seats itself.
On the other hand, the Rashtriya Janata Dal and the JD-U have decided to contest 100 seats each, leaving 40 to the Congress and three to the Nationalist Congress Party.
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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