The Indian Government, on the brink of a crucial no-confidence motion that is regarded as a turning point in the world’s biggest democracy, has been accused of buying votes on an epic scale.

In the run-up to Tuesday’s vote, Delhi has been gripped by a frenzy of mud-slinging, back-slapping and deal-making as the Congress Party and its main rivals try to make up the numbers. An MP said this week that the Government was offering to pay as much as 250 million rupees (£3 million) for each vote in parliament.

The Government secured three votes yesterday by naming an airport in Lucknow after the father of Ajit Singh, the leader of a small regional party. It is even planning to free six jailed MPs for the vote, five of whom are allies and four of whom are convicted murderers.

Zipping between politicians’ bungalows in a chauffeur-driven car, with the fate of the nation hanging in the balance, Mani Charenamei had never felt so powerful — or so popular.

As a Member of Parliament for Outer Manipur, in India’s remote northeast, he usually struggles to get a hearing from senior Delhi politicians.

Suddenly, however, everyone who is anyone wants to be his friend. As an independent MP, Mr Charenamei finds himself at the heart of a process that highlights the colour, complexity and corruption of Indian politics. “They’ve all approached me and I’ve told them what I want,” he told The Times. “I won’t decide how to vote until the night before.”

The vote was triggered when the Communist parties that gave the ruling coalition its majority withdrew their support. The spat came after the Government, dominated by the Congress Party, decided to proceed with a nuclear deal with America that would allow India to import US nuclear fuel and technology, thus cementing a new strategic relationship after the frosty Cold War years.

However, there is more than the deal at stake. If the Government loses, there will be a snap election as early as November, which could bring the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) back to power. “It will be a turning point either way,” said Prem Shankar Jha, a political columnist and former editor of the Hindustan Times, “but it’s impossible to predict.”

Mindful that the BJP lost a confidence motion by one vote in 1999, leading parties are going to amazing lengths to swing the result. The Congress Party has put aside years of acrimony and formed an alliance with the Samajwadi Party, led by a former wrestler and ally of Phoolan Devi, the late “Bandit Queen”.

Manmohan Singh, the Prime Minister, caused another stir on Monday when he met Mukesh Ambani, India’s richest man and a powerful potential ally.

The Communists, meanwhile, have discarded their commitment to secularism and joined hands with the BJP — their sworn enemy until last week. They have also allied with Mayawati Kumari, the “queen of the untouchables”, who is head of the Bahujan Samaj Party and one of India’s richest politicians with a declared fortune of £6.8 million.

“One thing is for sure, no party is bothered about moral or ethical standards,” said Kuldip Nayar, a political analyst and former High Commissioner to Britain. “Everybody’s trying to get as many votes as possible by hook or by crook.”

The recent manoeuvring leaves the Government with about 260 votes in the 543-seat parliament, and its opponents with about the same. So the battle is now on for the remaining two dozen independents and members of smaller parties — all of whom want their pound of flesh.

Some, like Mr Charenamei, want policy changes: he is pushing for Manipur’s boundaries to be redrawn. Others want Cabinet posts — such as Shibu Soren, a former Coal Minister, who was convicted of murder in 2006 only to be acquitted last year. Most, however, are simply after money. A. B. Bardhan, the head of the Communist Party of India, alleged that the Government was offering to buy votes for 250 million rupees apiece.

Akshay Pratap Singh, a Samajwadi Party MP, said that he had been offered 300 million rupees to vote against the Government. “There are many like me who have been approached but no one has the spirit to come out in the open and put before the public what is happening in these dark corridors of power,” he said.

“This is the first time that the rot at the core of the Indian system is exhibiting itself on a foreign policy issue,” Mr Jha said. “The world does not know what a sham democracy we have. Now they will find out.”

How they stand

For the Government

Congress Party 153 seats
Samajwadi Party 39 seats
Rashtriya Janata Dal Party 24 seats
Other allies about 44 seats

Against

Bharatiya Janata Party 130 seats
Communist parties 59 seats
Bahujan Samaj Party 17 seats
Other allies about 54 seats

Undecided

Independents 6 seats
Small parties 17 seats

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