Feature
Muslims community in Lucknow will vote for BJP if Rajnath Singh will be candidate
Lucknow: Amid rising incidents of violence in the name of cow protection, Shia Muslims in Lucknow say while the incidents outrage them, they might still consider voting for the BJP if it again fields Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh from the city seat in 2019 elections.
There has been speculation that Rajnath Singh, who won convincingly from Lucknow in the 2014 polls – the Bharatiya Janata Party’s seventh successive victory in the constituency – may be shifted to the Gautama Buddh Nagar seat for these elections. The minister has, however, denied any change.
Muslims comprise over 26 per cent of Lucknow city’s population, according to the 2011 Census, and about 350,000, as per UP Minister Mohsin Raza, of its 1.9 million voters (in the 2017 assembly elections). According to Reza, about a third of the Muslim voters are Shias, and he is confident that they will vote for the BJP.
The lone Muslim minister in the Yogi Adityanath government, he said that there are two reasons for this. First, in respect to late Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who was the MP from the city from 1991 to 2009, and second, the air strike in Pakistan by the Indian Air Force in response to the Pulwama attack.
He claimed that the Sunnis don’t go out to vote while the Shias participate actively “We are confident that about 70,000 votes of Shias will go in favour of the BJP,” he said, adding that the Muslims “are now feeling that the (Modi) government has given the opportunity to grow”.
Shia Wakf Board chief Waseem Rizvi also backed the BJP, saying “we will vote for Modi ji, whoever is the candidate from Lucknow.”
But, other Shia community leaders have different views.
Prominent cleric Yasoob Abbas told media persons, “The way in which the BJP MPs and the MLAs had targeted the Muslim community has broken our heart.”
“The Modi government had gave a slogan of ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas’. But the BJP leaders raised the issues of temple and mosque and that hurt us. The BJP failed to act against such leaders. Even the silence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has polarised voters on the name of religion,” he said.
Lucknow’s Muslim community to vote for Rajnath Singh if he will be BJP’s candidate in polls:
Describing incidents of lynching as “very unfortunate”, Abbas said that a human being’s life is very precious, “but in the state, the price of an animal life is more than the life of a human being”.
About other issues, he said one major concern that they “will keep in our mind is the condition of youths of our community”. “We are very worried about their future as nothing has been done for employment,” he said.
Asked about whom the community will vote for in the elections, he said that they were waiting and watching. “We will decide after looking at the candidate fielded by the political parties,” he said, but praised Rajnath Singh.
“If BJP fields Rajnath Singh, then we shall consider voting a gentle and noble leader as he had never spoken against the community. He carries forward the legacy of Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who believed in taking all communities together,” he added.
Another prominent Shia cleric, Maulana Saif Abbas, also admitted that they were “unhappy” with the way senior leaders of the party have been silent” over incidents of hate speech by the likes of Sakshi Maharaj and Giriraj Singh.
Asked if who they shall vote for, Abbas said, “This time we shall vote very cautiously. All the Muslim votes will be decided in coming days. And the candidates of the BSP-SP and Congress would also be considered.”
“We want relief from harassment caused by the leaders in the second row of the BJP and the silence of Modi and other top leaders had made us feel cornered,” Abbas noted.
Uttar Pradesh will vote in all seven phases of the Lok Sabha elections scheduled from April 11 to May 19 and Lucknow will go to vote in the fifth phase of May 6. Votes will be counted on May 23.
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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