Feature
Sheila Dikshit attacks SP-BSP alliance by saying it does not spell stability
New Delhi: In the first attack by a senior Congress leader on the SP-BSP alliance in Uttar Pradesh, former Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit has said that it does not “spell stability” and the Congress will spring a surprise in the state in the coming Lok Sabha elections.
“Let them come together. They keep on coming together and departing and coming together. I mean they are not stable, they don’t spell stability. Let’s see,” Dikshit told journalist in an interview here.
Dikshit, 80, a three-term Delhi Chief Minister, was responding to a question about the Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party forging an alliance for contesting the 80 Lok Sabha seats in the state and keeping the Congress out of the grand alliance. Dikshit was named the Delhi Congress chief on Jan 10.
Dikshit, who was projected by Congress as the chief ministerial candidate in Uttar Pradesh before it stuck an alliance with Samajwadi Party for the 2017 assembly polls, also said prospects of BJP under Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath were weak.
Dikshit’s remarks indicate that Congress leaders are likely to target the Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party in their campaign in Uttar Pradesh though their main opponent will be the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.
The Congress has decided to contest all the 80 Lok Sabha seats in the state but has kept the doors open for secular parties willing to defeat the BJP.
Party leaders are expected to tell the electorate in Uttar Pradesh that Congress is the only party that can oust the Narendra Modi government and defeat the BJP. They will also emphasise that the election was not to choose a Chief Minister but the country’s Prime Minister.
The Congress could win only two seats in Uttar Pradesh in the last Lok Sabha elections but it had won 21 in 2009 when it formed the second United Progressive Alliance government at the Centre.
Sheila Dikshit in first attack on BSP-SP alliance says does not spell stability:
Dikshit said she will campaign for the Congress in Uttar Pradesh if asked to but will focus more on Delhi as there is a lot of work of work to be done.
She favoured party president Rahul Gandhi being projected as prime ministerial candidate by the Congress.
“Let the party decide that. We want, I want personally and most of us want it. But it has to be decided by the entire party,” she said.
With prime ministership a contentious issue among non-BJP parties, Gandhi has himself said that it will be decided after the elections and the first task is to defeat the Narendra Modi government.
Asked about the possibility of a pan-India grand alliance, Dikshit said people have been working on it but it has not come through yet.
“Let’s see, they are working on it. It hasn’t come through as yet. As far as Congress is concerned, let’s see what happens,” she said.
Opposition leaders have indicated that there was little possibility of a pan-Inda grand alliance shaping up before the Lok Sabha polls and there will be state-specific alliances to defeat the BJP.
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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