How lucrative is it to be a legislator in present times? 

The rebel Shiv Sena legislators are all set to be a part of the next government in Maharashtra led by Devendra Fadnavis. When the incumbent CM Uddhav Thackeray was announcing his resignation, these rebel MLAs were heading to a luxury property in Goa from a five-star hotel in Guwahati. 

In fact, this is part of a standard operating procedure (SOP) used now in all such cases of defections.

  

Luxury stays and ministerial berths are part of the benefits of being an MLA. 

Though it is widely believed that financial transactions too are involved in these defections, such claims cannot be authenticated. It is also difficult to put a finger on any specific amount used in such cases. 

Some people claim that crores of rupees are involved in such cases but all that is hearsay.

  

So far, no particular case has come to the fore where one can exactly say how much money was paid to a defector. 

Generally, such defections take place at the time of no-confidence and trust votes, Rajya Sabha elections and legislative council polls. 

From 2014 onwards, such defections have been rampant. 

These were first witnessed in Arunachal Pradesh, then in Uttarakhand followed by Goa, Manipur, Gujarat, Meghalaya, Assam, West Bengal and the latest in Bihar. 

Defections also resulted in the fall of three governments in Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra.

  

In cases where a government falls, some defectors are often rewarded with ministerial berths as seen in Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka, and the same formula will be applied in Maharashtra.

  

Cross-voting and defections are also seen during the Rajya Sabha elections. 

Take for example the recently held Rajya Sabha polls in Haryana, Maharashtra and Rajasthan. In Haryana, cross-voting by Kuldeep Bishnoi helped in the victory of BJP-backed independent Kartikeya Sharma and the defeat of senior Congress leader Ajay Maken.

  

In Maharashtra, a candidate of Shiv Sena lost due to cross-voting and similarly in Rajasthan a BJP legislator cross-voted in favour of a Congress nominee. 

Obviously, there must be some gratification for such frequent defections otherwise why would a legislator betray an ideology and a party that had given him or her the mandate and the wherewithal to fight and win an election. 

So, there is more to it than meets the eye.