New Delhi, Mar 20 (IANS): The Congress has alleged that the 'hotel diplomacy' has won against the real democracy after the Congress government in Madhya Pradesh collapsed following the resignation of Kamal Nath from the Chief Minister's post.

Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi tweeted: "Today democracy defeated by hotel diplomacy."

Ahead of the floor test, the Congress could not muster a majority after an open rebellion by 22 Congress MLAs, including six ministers.

The apex court on Thursday directed the Kamal Nath government to prove majority by Friday 5 p.m. After the apex court's ruling, the Speaker accepted the resignation of the 16 MLAs and BJP MLA Sharad Kaul. The resignation of six MLAs was accepted by the Speaker earlier.

The Congress government fell after surviving on a razor thin majority for 15 months. The Congress strength in the House was reduced to 92 MLAs, which had 114 MLAs when the House was elected.

The Congress, which was out of power since 2003, managed to form the government in 2018 after getting support from the Bahujan Samaj Party, Samajwadi Party and four Independents.