111 MPs/MLAs switched parties after wins, Nagaland tops list: Poll watchdog

As many as 111 MPs and MLAs changed their parties after winning elections to Parliament or state assemblies between 2022 and 2026, according to an analysis by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and National Election Watch. The study covered elections and bypolls during the period and found that 26 Lok Sabha members, seven Rajya Sabha members and 78 MLAs switched parties.

ADR said the cases included individual defections, party mergers, resignations followed by bypoll victories, and disqualification followed by winning a seat in a bypoll. It also said recent defections had been linked to the fall of governments in some state assemblies.

Nagaland recorded the highest number of cases at 32, all involving MLAs. ADR said most of these were linked to a realignment involving the ruling Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party and the Naga People's Front, with the NPF emerging as the biggest recipient of lawmakers in its analysis. Overall, 25 legislators originally elected from the NDPP were among those who changed parties, while 32 lawmakers joined the NPF.

West Bengal recorded 20 cases, all involving Lok Sabha members. According to the analysis, all 20 were originally elected on All India Trinamool Congress tickets and later moved to the Nationalist Citizens Party of India. The MPs have claimed a merger with the NCPI and the matter is before Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla. Telangana followed with nine cases, all involving MLAs elected from the Bharat Rashtra Samithi, while the Congress emerged as the main recipient of lawmakers in the state.

Goa recorded eight cases, with Congress MLAs moving to the BJP, while Punjab also had eight cases, including six Rajya Sabha members and two MLAs. Maharashtra recorded six cases, all involving Lok Sabha members elected from Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray), who later moved to the Shiv Sena led by Eknath Shinde. Meghalaya had six MLA cases and Manipur five, while Arunachal Pradesh and Gujarat recorded four each. Himachal Pradesh and Rajasthan had two cases each, while Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Sikkim and Uttar Pradesh recorded one case each. Delhi accounted for one Rajya Sabha member changing party.

At the party level, the NDPP recorded the highest number of exits at 25, followed by the AITC with 20 and the Congress with 19. The BRS accounted for nine, AAP and NCP seven each, Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) six, JD(U) five and NPP four. Together, the NDPP, AITC and Congress accounted for 64 of the 111 cases, or 58 per cent. The NPF received the highest number of lawmakers who changed parties, at 32, followed by the BJP with 29 and the NCPI with 20. The Congress received nine, Shiv Sena eight, NPP six and People’s Party of Arunachal four. The NPF, BJP and NCPI together accounted for 81 of the 111 lawmakers, or 73 per cent.

ADR said the exercise was not necessarily exhaustive because there is no systematically maintained and readily accessible official database of legislators changing parties. It recommended changes to the anti-defection framework, including shifting the power to decide disqualification petitions from presiding officers to the President in the case of MPs and governors in the case of MLAs, based on the Election Commission’s advice. It also suggested a time limit for deciding such petitions and restrictions on defectors holding public office until they are re-elected. Overall, the analysis showed party-switching by 111 elected representatives across Parliament and state assemblies between 2022 and 2026, with Nagaland and West Bengal recording the highest numbers.