A Gujarat bypoll candidate’s claim that he had been offered Rs 52 crore four months ago to vacate his seat has reignited the debate on a new tactic to subvert the people’s mandate by asking MLAs to resign en masse.

Congress MLA Akshay Patel, who is contesting the Karjan seat on a BJP ticket after resigning from the Assembly in June just before the Rajya Sabha elections, has now told a TV channel: “Leader of Opposition Paresh Dhanani (of the Congress) says I was bought for Rs 16 crore. He has no knowledge. I was offered Rs 52 crore at a meeting in a farm house in the past. But I rejected that offer. I am not into this dhanda (business). Whatever I have earned is through my business. I have sugar mills.”

Of the eight Congress MLAs who resigned in Gujarat to gift the BJP the third Rajya Sabha seat that the ruling party didn’t have the strength to win, five are contesting bypolls.

Although Patel did not specify who made the offer, Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi said: “Who else can make such a mind-boggling offer of Rs 52 crore to one MLA other than the party which is ruling Gujarat and the country? We have seen what happened in Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Goa, Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh.

“We have seen how Rajya Sabha elections were manipulated in Gujarat by luring away MLAs to whittle down the Congress’s strength. Narendra Modi says na khaoonga, na khane dunga (neither will I accept bribes, nor will I allow anyone to take money). But the BJP has reduced democracy to a saleable commodity.”

Singhvi alleged that MLAs were being treated like “seth ka galla (trader’s stuff)”.

“Modi has blurred the difference between politics and trade. Two other former Congress MLAs who resigned before the Rajya Sabha elections to ensure the victory of an additional BJP candidate are heard on tape saying that money and ticket to contest are assured. They hail the BJP for fulfilling its commitment, not running away from its promise after the task is fulfilled,” the Congress spokesperson said.

Like in Gujarat, the plot is playing out on a larger scale in Madhya Pradesh where all the 25 Congress MLAs who resigned to facilitate the BJP’s return to power have been fielded in by-elections.

In Karnataka, 15 of the 17 Congress-JDS lawmakers who resigned to topple the government have been given tickets by the BJP.

In each of these states, the BJP had claimed that it had played no role in the defections and blamed the fall of governments on Congress infighting.

The defectors from Karnataka had been kept in Maharashtra, then ruled by the BJP, and the rebels from Madhya Pradesh had been given shelter in BJP-ruled Karnataka. The courts refused to see these operations as a threat to democracy.

Both beneficiary chief ministers — B.S. Yediyurappa of Karnataka and Shivraj Singh Chouhan of Madhya Pradesh — publicly proclaimed that they had returned to power because of the “sacrifices” of the Congress MLAs and so these lawmakers needed to be looked after.

Many of these MLAs were immediately made ministers in the BJP governments. The Congress had then quoted conservative figures — Rs 20-25 crore for each such MLA — much less than the Rs 52-crore claim floated by Patel.

Former chief minister Kamal Nath, a victim of this technique of changing the colour of the people’s mandate, on Sunday told a Congress rally in Madhya Pradesh: “People say election is a festival of democracy. But these bypolls are a festival of saudebaazi (bargaining). This is a celebration of the bikau (saleable). The Constitution-makers didn’t anticipate politicians to stoop so low, they didn’t provide legal remedy for this amorality.”

The former chief minister added: “This act of inducing defections using money has darkened the face of Madhya Pradesh. People outside suspect everything is on sale in the state. Chambal-Gwalior was known for valour. Now MLAs have given a bad name to this region. This is not loktantra (democracy), this is dhan-tantra (money power). The people sent the BJP packing after 15 years; money power sent us packing in 15 months. This BJP government is made of notes, not votes.”

As if this discourse itself is not a blot on India’s democracy, Congress spokesperson and top lawyer Singhvi lamented that no remedy was possible.

“Who will make the law to nullify this shameful technique, those who use it to their advantage? If your mindset is to violate the law come what may, you will find some loophole to exploit it. It is not about law, it is about morality,” he pointed out.

Singhvi said it was not about Gujarat, Karnataka or Madhya Pradesh, but about the credibility of Indian democracy.

“Constitutional issues are involved. Governments are elected for five years. But now it depends on the BJP’s will. They can artificially reduce the majority into minority and change the government. Not less than 100 MLAs of Opposition parties have resigned without a reason in the past six years. This is nullification of the democratic mandate,” Singhvi said.

He added: “The anti-defection law, known as the Tenth Schedule, is reduced to a mockery. The Supreme Court has ruled in at least 10 cases that such defections are constitutional sin. Now any mandate can be manipulated. An ordinary MLA is given the allurement of ministership and money and he resigns. This will have to be addressed. To begin with, a sitting Supreme Court judge should be asked to investigate the Rs 52-crore claim of the BJP candidate and an FIR should be registered forthwith. But we know nothing will be done.”