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BJP will see tough fights in Bihar’s final round

Published

8 years ago

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Purnia (Bihar): The BJP is bracing for a stiff challenge when Bihar’s Seemanchal region, where it lost all four Lok Sabha seats even amid the Modi wave of 2014, will vote on Thursday to elect 24 legislators.

The region, spread over four districts, covers the northeast of the state. There will be plenty of mutli-cornered contests, with the AIMIM of Asaduddin Owaisi contesting in six constituencies.

Though the BJP-led four-party alliance and the Grand Alliance of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar are in direct contest in every seat, there are other players too.

These include Pappu Yadav’s Jan Adhikar Party (JAP), Hyderabad MP Owaisi’s All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen as well as the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), whose best known leader in Bihar is Tariq Anwar.

Their presence has caused a jitter in both the main camps contending for power.

The region, with 24 constituencies in Araria, Purnia, Katihar and Kishanganj districts, has a heavy Muslim presence. Kishanganj boasts of 67 percent Muslim population, Katihar 43 percent, Araria 40 percent and Purnia 37 percent.

A journey across the mostly backward region gives a sense that Muslims are divided between the Grand Alliance, JAP, AIMIM and NCP.

The smaller parties may get a slice of Muslim votes while a major chunk could go to Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal-United (JD-U), Lalu Prasad’s Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and the Congress.

In the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), the Bharatiya Janata Party is contesting on 18 seats, leaving six for the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP), the Rashtriya Lok Samata Party (RLSP) and the Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM).

In the Grand Alliance, the Congress has candidates in 10 places, the JD-U in nine and the RJD in five constituencies.

Owaisi’s AIMIM is contesting on six seats: Amour and Baysi in Purnia district, Kishanganj and Kochadhaman in Kishanganj district, Raniganj in Araria district and Balrampur in Katihar district.

Akhtarul Iman, the AIMIM’s state president and an outgoing legislator, is in close contest in Kochadhaman, pitted against Mujahid Alam of JD-U, Abdur Rehman of BJP and Gulrez Roshan Rehman of JAP.

Iman won in 2010 on RJD ticket but later joined the JD-U. In the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, he was a JD-U candidate but got expelled after he urged voters to go with the Congress.

In Kishanganj, the AIMIM’s presence has made the contest triangular. Here the contest is among Congress’ outgoing legislator Muhammad Jawed, BJP’s Sweety Singh and AIMIM’s Tasiruddin.

“Owaisi is attracting young voters and his presence has consolidated Hindus. He may not win more than one seat but is affecting Muslim votes in the area,” Alok Singh, 32, of Kishanganj told IANS.

Mehboob Alam, 28, who works in a shop at Ruidasa Ground area, told IANS: “There are lots of Congress supporters here but this time I will support Owaisi.” He could not specify why.

Many Muslims don’t have much knowledge about the AIMIM but appeared to know Owaisi.

Feroz Alam of Pothia village in Kishanganj said: “Owaisi is sure to spoil Congress’ chances.”

The NCP and JAP have put up candidates in almost all the constituencies. The NCP is known to have a strong presence in Katihar, which its leader Tariq Anwar represents in the Lok Sabha.

JAP leader Pappu Yadav’s area of influence is Purnia, from where he began his political journey.

In 2010, the BJP won 12 of the 24 seats in alliance with the JD-U. The RJD won three seats, the Congress and LJP two each and the JD-U four. Balrampur in Katihar district elected an independent candidate.

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Entertainment

Meghalaya Reserves Legalized Gambling and Sports Betting for Tourists

Published

2 years ago

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June 25, 2022

By

PureWin Online Betting

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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