Feature
BSP chief Mayawati hints she is contender for Prime Minister’s post
Visakhapatnam: Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati on Wednesday hinted at being a contender for the Prime Minister’s post, saying the situation will become clear after the election results.
“As far as my becoming the Prime Minister is concerned, the elections are going on. When the results come, the situation will become clear,” she said when asked if she was a contender for the top post.
She was addressing a news conference here along with Pawan Kalyan and leaders of the CPI and CPI-M with which the BSP has allied for the elections to the Andhra Pradesh Assembly and Lok Sabha.
On the possibility of the formation of a third front as an alternative to both the BJP and Congress, she said she can comment only after the results were declared.
She claimed that people want a change at the Centre as the Congress ruled for a long period but failed to deliver while the BJP failed to fulfil the promises made in 2014 and tried to divert people’s attention from its failures.
“If we get an opportunity to form the government at Centre, we will give good governance on UP pattern. We will work for the welfare of poor in all sections, will solve the problem of unemployment and there will be no discrimination against any state,” she said.
“If we form the government at the Centre, we will give special category status to Andhra Pradesh which both the Congress and the BJP failed to give,” Mayawati added.
Replying to a question about the BJP, the BSP leader claimed that it was in a bad shape across the country. She claimed that the BJP was sad about the BSP-SP-RLD alliance in Uttar Pradesh as the state had the highest number of Lok Sabha seats.
Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati hints she is contender for PM’s post:
Pointing out that BSP was the third largest party in the country in terms of votes it polled in 2014 elections, she said her party had votes in every state. “Wherever we have alliances it will hurt BJP,” she said.
On the Congress manifesto, Mayawati remarked that its promise of Rs 72,000 for every poor every year was on the lines of BJP’s promise to give Rs 15-20 lakh to every poor.
She recalled that former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had also made a 20-point programme for removing poverty. “Have they succeeded in removing poverty,” she asked.
Mayawati said the BSP formed four governments in Uttar Pradesh and contested many elections but it never released manifestos. “We believe in doing more and talking less.”
She exuded confidence that their alliance would come to power in Andhra Pradesh and Pawan Kalyan would become the Chief Minister as people had tried and tested the national and regional parties.
The actor-politician said he visited Uttar Pradesh and was impressed with the work done by Mayawati. He said he wanted to see Mayawati as the Prime Minister.
“If a chaiwala can become the PM and if a chowkidar wants to continue as the PM, we want to see a lonely woman and lonely fighter for a social purpose as the PM. She struggled amidst all chaos and faced tough challenges,” said Pawan Kalyan.
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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