Feature
‘New colour, new style’ Rahul attracts attention in Amethi
Amethi: His 57-day political sabbatical in unknown land may have made him the butt of many a joke, but for the faithful in Amethi, Rahul Gandhi is a changed man – more accessible and more focused.
For hundreds and thousands of party loyalists and Gandhi followers in the family pocketborough, which he has represented thrice, the recent three-day visit of the Gandhi scion to Amethi has left a “fresh feel” among those who met him.
They had gained an impression of a “neta getting back his footing” in a place which gave him a real scare in the Lok Sabha elections last year.
Ambuj Tripathi, a tea vendor at Gauriganj, a long standing Congress loyalist who had this time voted for BJP’s Smriti Irani admits of “liking the more mellowed and free-wheeling” Rahul.
“This time he appeared to be down from the Gandhi surname’s high horse as he mingled freely with us and am happy that even if not complete, the change in my MP has started,” Tripathi told.
As the 44-year-old sat cross-legged on the floor in midst of the farmers, hugged a few, patted others and heard patiently to their long list of problems – the crop damage woes due to unseasonal rains and hail, poor water supply for irrigation, power outages and bad roads – Gandhi appeared to have rejuvenated the old ‘Gandhi connect” with the people.
“It is indeed a reformed Rahul Bhaiyya,” Vivek Singh of Musafirkhana, who admits of being a staunch Gandhi family fan, told this IANS correspondent.
Pointing out that the victory margin of the Congress vice-president had ebbed last year considerably due to the “aloofness and mere-hand-waving politics of the Gandhis,” the 24-year-old unemployed graduate sees the new look and combative Rahul as a “potentially positive political development.”
According to Youth Congress leader Abhishek Tiwari the “changed Rahul was going down well with the constituents of Amethi” but cautions that the “change must go on.” He points out that the coterie of some self-seeking locals and hanger-ons must be done away with.
At Kasara in Sangrampur where Rahul visited on his trip, the feedback is similar and heartening for the moribund Congress.
Taking up farmers problems, listening to them and “appearing to be on their side” did wonders to the sagging image and goodwill for Congress, says Amarnath Shahstri, a local teacher.
“He is playing his cards well this time and am sure if this is an indicator of things to come, Congress revival is not a far cry” he said.
Ram Avtaar, a villager from Navipur is impressed by Rahul Gandhi’s ‘kisan panchayat’ and says he was happy that “at least someone had walked to their doorstep and was hearing them out over their problems.”
Not only the party supporters but even those in the administration and the opposition parties are feeling “the winds of change.”
During his three-day stay at Amethi – a first of this long duration, Gandhi summoned many a local officials including sub-divisional magistrate of Musafirkhana R.D Ram, executive engineer (tube wells), executive engineer (Jal Nigam) and many others and cross-questioned them on various issues.
“Naya rang, naya roop” (new colour, new style) quipped a senior district official while describing his meeting with the MP. While Samajwadi Party (SP) leaders and local legislators like Rakesh Pratap Singh, Dr Muslim and many others refuse to comment on the new-found makeover of Rahul Gandhi, many admit in private that the Gandhi scion was “getting back into his elements.”
Opposition BJP, however, finds “nothing much” in either the Gandhi scion or his efforts to revive the party fortunes in Amethi. “Faced with a credible government at the center and a tough opposition in the constituency, Rahul has been forced to take some corrective measures…but they are not enough and would do little good” says Hriday Narayan Dixit, BJP’s leader of opposition in the Legislative Council.
Close aides of Rahul Gandhi however contest this opinion and say time will prove how the Congress VP lifts the morale and fortunes of the 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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