111 MPs, MLAs change parties in 4 years; NPF, BJP gain most lawmakers: Report

As many as 111 sitting MPs and MLAs changed political parties after being elected between 2022 and 2026, with Nagaland accounting for the highest number of such cases, according to a report by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and National Election Watch (NEW).

The report, released on September 24, analysed party switches during elections and by-elections held in the period. The 111 lawmakers include 26 Lok Sabha MPs, seven Rajya Sabha MPs and 78 MLAs across 17 states and Union Territories.

The Naga People’s Front (NPF) emerged as the biggest recipient of lawmakers who changed parties, with 32 joining the party, 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 lawmakers, or 73 per cent of the total.

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The figures, however, include different forms of party switching. ADR has separately classified individual defections, party mergers, resignations followed by by-election victories, and disqualifications followed by by-election victories.

Nagaland, Bengal top

Nagaland recorded the highest number of cases, with 32 lawmakers changing parties, followed by West Bengal with 20. Telangana recorded nine cases, while Goa and Punjab had eight each.

The Nagaland cases were largely linked to the realignment between the Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP) and the NPF. ADR recorded 25 lawmakers as having left the NDPP, while 32 lawmakers joined the NPF. The report’s classification includes the party merger in the state.

In West Bengal, all 20 cases involved Lok Sabha MPs originally elected on All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) tickets who subsequently moved to the NCPI. The MPs have claimed a merger with the NCPI, with the matter pending before Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, according to the report.

Telangana recorded nine cases, involving MLAs originally elected from the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), with Congress emerging as the main recipient. Goa saw eight Congress MLAs move to the BJP, while Punjab recorded eight cases involving six Rajya Sabha members and two MLAs.

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Maharashtra recorded six cases, all involving Lok Sabha MPs elected from Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) who subsequently moved to the Shiv Sena led by Eknath Shinde. Meghalaya recorded six cases and Manipur five.

The exits

On the other side of the movement, the NDPP recorded the highest number of exits at 25, followed by AITC with 20 and Congress with 19. BRS recorded nine exits, while AAP and NCP had seven each.

Together, the NDPP, AITC and Congress accounted for 64 of the 111 lawmakers who changed parties, or 58 per cent of the total.

BJP entrants

Among those who joined the BJP, 29 lawmakers were recorded: seven Rajya Sabha MPs and 22 MLAs. The seven Rajya Sabha members were originally elected from the AAP and joined the BJP in April 2026.

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The BJP entrants also included eight Congress MLAs from Goa, four from Gujarat and two from Himachal Pradesh, along with five JD(U) MLAs from Manipur. Other cases included Samajwadi Party MLA Manoj Kumar Pandey from Uttar Pradesh, Congress MLA Nirmala Sapre from Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka MLA G Janardhan Reddy, whose KRPP merged with the BJP.

ADR said its analysis may not capture every instance of party switching because comprehensive official data on such cases is not systematically maintained.