Analysis of Sitting MPs/MLAs Who Changed Political Parties After Winning Elections in the Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha and State Assemblies (For the Period 2022 to 2026)
Summary and Highlights
Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and National Election Watch have analysed 111 current MPs/MLAs who changed parties after being elected to the Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha and State Assemblies. This analysis is based on the elections held between 2022 and 2026 and the by-elections conducted during this period.
For the purpose of this analysis, the 111 cases of sitting MPs and MLAs who changed political parties after being elected have been carefully classified into four distinct categories based on the nature and process of the change. These categories are:
- Individual switch / defection, where a legislator voluntarily left one party and joined another without resigning from the House;
- Party merger, where the original party (or a substantial section of its legislative wing) formally merged with another political party, as seen in cases such as NDPP–NPF in Nagaland;
- Resignation + Bye-election, where the legislator first resigned from the Assembly/Parliament, joined a new party, and subsequently contested and won the bye-election; and
- Disqualification + Bye-election, where the member was disqualified under the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution, later joined another party, and won the seat again through a bye-election.
Note: Every effort has been made to identify and include all relevant cases in this report. However, owing to the lack of systematically maintained and readily accessible official data, it is not possible to ensure that the list is exhaustive. Accordingly, there may be other relevant cases that are not covered in this report.
The previous report on “MPs/ MLAs who changed parties" released on 9 September 2021, covered the period from 2014- 2021. (https://adrindia.org/content/analysis-re-contesting-candidates-and-mpsm…).
Election wise Sitting MPs and MLAs who changed parties (as on 12th July 2026)
A total of 111 sitting MPs/MLAs changed their political parties after being elected to the current Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha and State Assemblies. Among them, 26 were Lok Sabha MPs, 7 were Rajya Sabha MPs and 78 were MLAs.
State wise Sitting MPs and MLAs who changed parties
- Sitting MPs/MLAs changed parties in 17 States/UTs.
- Nagaland recorded the highest number of party switches with 32 (29%), followed by West Bengal with 20 (18%).
Party-wise share of MPs and MLAs who Left Political Parties
- The highest number of party switches was recorded among representatives originally elected from NDPP (25, 23%), followed by AITC (20, 18%) and INC (19, 17%). BRS accounted for 9 (8%) party switches, while AAP and NCP each accounted for 7 (6%). Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) accounted for 6 (5%), followed by JD(U) with 5 (5%) and NPP with 4 (4%).
- Overall, NDPP, AITC and INC together accounted for 64 (58%) of the 111 MPs/MLAs who changed parties.
- It is noteworthy that the recent fall of governments in some State Assemblies was attributed to defections by their MLAs.
Party-wise share of MPs and MLAs Who Joined Other Political Parties
- NPF received the highest number of representatives, with 32 (29%) joining the party, followed by BJP with 29 (26%) and the Nationalist Citizens Party of India with 20 (18%). INC received 9 (8%), while Shiv Sena received 8 (7%). NPP and PPA received 6 (5%) and 4 (4%), respectively.
- Overall, NPF, BJP and the Nationalist Citizens Party of India together accounted for 81 (73%) of the 111 MPs/MLAs who joined other political parties.
