Feature
From Lucknow city new name Poonam Sinha added in Rajnath Singh’s life
Lucknow: Winning the Lucknow seat will be a “cakewalk” for Home Minister Rajnath Singh as the opposition is yet to find a suitable candidate for the seat that was once held by former prime minister A B Vajpayee, according to UP Deputy Chief Minister Dinesh Sharma.
As per my information Mira Talwar, Dauji Gupta, SP Singh, Alka Das (wife of former Union minister Akhilesh Das), a railway leader and Jitin Prasada were approached by the SP and Congress but all have refused to contest from this seat,” Sharma said.
“A new name (of Poonam Sinha) is doing the rounds now as opposition candidate. This is because people here are sensitive and have an emotional attachment with BJP candidates, Sharma, who was Lucknow’s mayor for 10 years, told media persons in an interview.
The opposition, he said, “is unable to find a suitable candidate from this seat held by former PM Atalji, who had emotional connect with people of the state capital. Over half a dozen candidates have refused to contest from here. The seat will be a cakewalk for Rajnathji, who has carried forward development vision of Atalji in this constituency”.
The Lucknow seat is with BJP since 1991 when A B Vajpayee won. He broke his own record in 1996 by defeating Raj Babbar (SP) by a margin of 1,18,671 votes. In 1998, SP gave ticket to Muzaffar Ali, who also tasted defeat and Atal’s victory margin rose to 2.16 votes.
In 1999, Karan Singh of Congress tried to give a tough fight to Vajpayee but ultimately lost by 1.23 votes. In his last polls in 2004 again he again won by defeating Madu Gutpa (SP) by 2.18 lakh votes.
The legacy of Atalji was taken forward by his old associate Lalji Tandon, now serving as Governor in Bihar. He won the 2009 polls by securing 34.93 per cent votes while rival Rita Bahuguna Joshi (then Congress) got 27.93 per cent votes.
Poonam Sinha new name added in Rajnath Singh’s life from Lucknow city:
BSP candidate Akhilesh Das was in third place and SP’s Nafisa Ali was at fourth place.
In 2014, when BJP gave ticket to Rajnath Singh he broke all records and won by a margin of 5,61,106 votes by defeating his nearest rival Congress candidate Rita Bahuguna Joshi (now in BJP).
Not only parliamentary polls, the people of Lucknow also gave their support to BJP is mayoral polls. The Lucknow mayor seat is with BJP for over two decades in which Dr SC Rai and Dinesh Sharma served for ten years each and presently the seat is held by BJP’s Sanyukta Bhatia.
Recalling Vajpayee’s connect with the people, Sharma said, When I was contesting for the first time in 2006 Atalji came to campaign for me. At a meeting he was climbing stairs slowly even as people looked on When he reached the dais he said ‘you (people) need a person who can walk fast not slowly like me.
Atalji was pointing at me and people understood what he wanted and I won. In my next election, I did not ask any BJP leader to campaign for me. I even did not open election office and never campaigned after 6 pm, Sharma said trying to drive home the point that Lucknow is BJP’s stronghold.
He said Rajnathji has only carried forward Atalji’s vision of development and that is why he is widely accepted, he added.
The Lucknow constituency will got to polls on May 6 in the fifth phase.
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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