Congress accuses BJP of offering inducements to MLAs in Gujarat to switch side

NEW DELHI: Days after the BJP fielded five former Congress MLAs in Gujarat by-polls, the Congress Sunday accused the saffron party of luring legislators in the state through monetary or other inducements and demanded a judicial inquiry into it.

Congress spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi cited interviews of three former Congress MLAs who switched over to the BJP earlier this year after resigning as legislators, to allege the BJP had offered them monetary or other inducements to woo them to their side.

They have been fielded by the saffron party in Gujarat for by-polls to their respective Assembly seats.

Singhvi claimed that Akshay Patel, Pradyumnsinh Jadeja and J V Kakadiya -- who had joined the BJP in June this year after resigning from the Congress -- had purportedly accepted on camera to have been offered inducements for switching over.

"The legislature, it is clear from these proofs, has become a pawn, a business plaything for the BJP, which aggressively indulges in the 3Ts -- Trading, Trafficking and Transaction-ing with MLAs and legislators," Singhvi said.

Five of the eight resignees from the Congress have got tickets for the near forthcoming bypolls, he pointed out.

Talking about Patel, Singhvi said, "The issue at all is not whether he accepted it or took the bribe or not.

Obviously, those speaking have denied it. The issue is the true colours of the offeror, the true moral constitutional and legal level, political level at which the offeror is functioning, namely the BJP."

"The true issue is about the limitless capacity of this party to offer money. I repeat- limitless capacity, matched only by their limitless greed for power by hook or by crook, more by crook, less by hook," he said.

"The BJP ensures that elections that mandate, which is the constitutional, democratic mandate is actually a mandate of only 2 or 3 years, It is curtailed, interrupted, obstructed to 2-3 years by -- 'A' large sums of money, 'B' large number of resignation, 'C', re-offering of ministerships and 'D', offering of MLA tickets," he alleged.

This is the political morality practiced by the ruling party at the Centre and in the state of Gujarat, he said.

"You (BJP) create an artificial majority, an artificial majority is negation of the democracy, which functions on majority, true majorities and you do it by the naked use of monetary power," he said.

He said the Congress demands that a Supreme Court sitting judge inquire into this or at least a sitting Chief Justice of a High Court at the minimum.

There should be an immediate registration of a Prevention of Corruption Act, FIR and related sections of the Indian penal codes on the criminal sides, he said.

Singhvi called for a swift comprehensive investigation.