ADR: BJP, NCPI AMONG PARTIES WITH HIGHEST DEFECTION INFLOWS SINCE 2022

September 26, 2026

NEW DELHI: As many as 111 sitting MPs and MLAs changed political parties after winning elections between 2022 and 2026, according to an analysis by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and National Election Watch. The study covered 26 Lok Sabha MPs, seven Rajya Sabha members and 78 MLAs.

The Naga People’s Front (NPF) received the largest number of lawmakers who switched parties, with 32, followed by the BJP with 29 and the Nationalist Citizens Party of India (NCPI) with 20. Together, the three parties accounted for 81 of the 111 cases, or 73 per cent of the legislators who moved to other parties during the period.

West Bengal recorded 20 cases, all involving Lok Sabha members originally elected on Trinamool Congress tickets who subsequently moved to the NCPI, according to the ADR analysis. The MPs have claimed that they merged with the NCPI, while the matter remains pending before Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla.

At the state level, Nagaland recorded the highest number of party-switching cases with 32, followed by West Bengal with 20. The largest number of legislators leaving a party came from the NDPP, with 25 cases, followed by the Trinamool Congress with 20 and the Congress with 19.

ADR said its analysis may not be exhaustive because India does not have a systematically maintained and readily accessible official database tracking legislators who change political parties. The organisation has also proposed changes to the anti-defection framework, including time limits for deciding disqualification petitions and transferring the authority to decide such petitions from presiding officers to the President or governors, based on Election Commission advice.