Feature
Former Union Minister in BJP govt Upendra Kushwaha wants Rahul Gandhi as PM
New Delhi: After the snub from Samajwadi party (SP) and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and amidst reports of rumblings within the Mahagatbandhan (Grand Alliance) in Bihar, a new ally says Congress President Rahul Gandhi is fit to be Prime Minister and the party backs him for the top post.
The Rashtriya Lok Samata Party (RLSP), which quit the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) last month, also feels that the Uttar Pradesh type situation in which the BSP and SP kept Congress out of the alliance in Uttar Pradesh, will not happen in Bihar.
“Our party is supporting Rahul Gandhi for Prime Minister. This is not the decision of the Grand Alliance but our party wants him to be the Prime Ministerial candidate,” RLSP President Upendra Kushwaha told media persons in an interview.
“Rahul is fit to be Prime Minister. In recent times he has matured. He has an understanding of the country. In his family he has seen a lot of ups and downs. He is understanding the world now. He is young and so he should be Prime Minister,” he said.
The former Union Minister also said that the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and Congress need to take “a liberal attitude” for an early decision on the distribution of seats among the parties in the Grand Alliance in Bihar for the coming Lok Sabha elections.
“RJD and Congress are big parties. In Bihar, RJD is bigger and at the national level Congress is a bigger party. If both the parties get respectable number seats, the decision will be announced soon,” Kushwaha said.
There are apparent differences between Congress and RJD over seats with the former keen to fight at least 12 of 40 seats in the state and latter keen to give only eight.
RLSP is likely to contest on five Lok Sabha seats in Bihar and one in Jharkhand.
Former minister in BJP govt Upendra Kushwaha supports Rahul Gandhi as next PM:
Kushwaha, 58, who was a minister in Narendra Modi government and quit the NDA last month, said that key decisions were taken without consultations.
Citing a recent instance, he said that even ministers in the government were not aware that a 10 per cent quota for economically backward among the forward castes was going to be announced.
Kushwaha also accused Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and BJP of trying to destroy his party and said it was the biggest reason for him leaving NDA.
“NDA will not win any seat in Bihar. It will suffer due to Nitish Kumar in Bihar. The health and education scenario have worsened. Law and order situation is worse than what it was before and he has lost credibility by switching sides. People have understood that getting the chair is his priority. The BJP will also suffer due to this,” he said.
Asked about reports of merger talks between RLSP and Sharad Yadav’s Loktrantrik Janata Dal (LJD), he said it was not about merger between two parties but bringing together those who fight for social justice.
He said Sharad Yadav will fight the Lok Sabha elections from Bihar as a constituent of Grand Alliance. Kushshawa said he will be re-contesting the coming Lok Sabha elections from Karakat.
The grand alliance in Bihar comprises RJD, Congress, RLSP, Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) led by former Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi, Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP) led by Mukesh Sahni and LJD.
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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