Feature
Why Bihar rejected Modi-Shah and embraced Nitish
By Brajendra Nath Singh
New Delhi: Bihar has awarded the performer. And punished negativity and needless aggression. This is the dominant feeling of most political analysts and voters from the state.
The stunning victory of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s Grand Alliance is widely viewed as a vote for his good governance, his innately soft nature and the “social engineering” he achieved with friend-turned-foe-turned-ally Lalu Prasad.
In the process, Nitish Kumar, the much-maligned Lalu Prasad and their third ally, the Congress, pulled off a dramatic win in assembly elections to deliver Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah their second major defeat since the February rout in Delhi.
The BJP failed in Bihar as there was no substantial anti-incumbency against Nitish Kumar. But the BJP attempted its best to tarnish his image mouthing fears of “jungle raj” if he took power with Lalu Prasad.
Joining hands with Lalu Prasad was obviously a risky decision but Nitish Kumar went ahead calculating that the caste combinations it would bring about would deliver the results. It did.
A journey across Bihar during the bitterly contested election campaign showed that voters were divided on caste lines but united on one point: that Nitish Kumar had done a lot to develop the state.
“The work done by Nitish is evident on the ground. But what has our prime minister done other than blabber and visit foreign countries?” asked Amardeep Yadav of Bihar who lives in Delhi.
It is an opinion widely shared by many from the state.
Many also felt that the personal attacks mounted on the soft-spoken Nitish Kumar by Modi and Shah backfired.
Nitish Kumar used all the jibes directed at him to remind voters about Bihari pride — just the way Modi used to do during his tenure as Gujarat chief minister.
And while Modi was aggressive, Nitish Kumar retained his poise. He never lost control of his temper, even while facing the most personal attacks.
Many voters both during the campaign and after the results came out on Sunday made it clear that they did not approve of the language and style of the prime minister.
And while the BJP took care to distribute ticket on caste lines, it upset its own cart when RSS chief Mohan Bhagawat expressed his misgivings about job quotas.
The BJP’s brazen attempts to polarise voters on religious lines — on beef consumption and how celebrations would take place in Pakistan if the BJP lost — didn’t go well the electorate.
“Bihar has given an answer to Modiji. Bihar has shown its traditions and chosen the right person,” Suraj Yadav of Delhi University told IANS.
“We too wanted the BJP to win but not at the cost of our integrity and honour as Biharis,” he added. “The BJP leadership humiliated not only the people of Bihar but its Bihari cadres too.”
Academic Yogesh Chourasia said that Lalu Yadav and Nitish Kumar used the BJP’s propaganda tricks as a weapon against the BJP.
“Only regional forces will get strengthened after this verdict. But I don’t see any of them emerging as a national force,” said Sri Prakash Singh, a political science professor of Delhi University.
“The Grand Alliance won because Lalu’s base of MY (Muslim-Yadav) worked, and it got the leadership of Nitish,” he added.
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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