Most party-hopping leaders from Cong; BJP is gainer: Report

Indian National Congress (INC) has lost the highest number of its electoral candidates as well as MPs and MLAs to other parties in the past seven years, with the BJP emerging the biggest gainer since it came to power at the Centre in 2014, according to a report released on September 9.

A total of 222 electoral candidates left the Congress to join other parties during polls held between 2014 and 2021, while 177 MPs and MLAs quit the party during this period, shows an analysis of the candidates’ poll affidavits by the National Election Watch and the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR).

The BJP also lost more than 111 candidates, besides 33 MPs and MLAs, during the elections since 2014. Yet, the saffron party remained the biggest gainer as a total of 253 candidates, and 173 MPs and MLAs came to its fold quitting their respective parties, shows the report.

The Congress, which saw 399 of its leaders quitting the party to join others in the past seven years, got 115 candidates and 61 MPs and MLAs coming to its fold from other parties.

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The National Election Watch-ADR report is based on the analysis of the poll affidavits of 1,133 candidates and 500 MPs and MLAs, who changed parties and re-contested elections held during the Lok Sabha and Assembly polls since 2014.

Mayawati’s Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) follows Congress, with a considerable number of its candidates and lawmakers joining other parties during the elections. According to the report, as many as 153 candidates of the BSP and 20 of its lawmakers left the party to join another party during elections since 2014. The BSP, however, saw 65 candidates and 12 lawmakers joining its fold from other parties.

The report shows that Samajwadi Party (SP) lost 60 of its candidates and 18 lawmakers to other parties during the elections, since 2014. The party, however, saw just 29 candidates and 13 lawmakers coming to its fold from other parties.

More than 31 candidates and 26 lawmakers of the Trinamool Congress (TMC) left the party to join another party in the past seven years. A total of 23 candidates and 31 lawmakers, however, joined the TMC leaving their parties since 2014.

The Janata Dal-United (JD-U) lost 59 of its candidates and 12 of its MPs and MLAs as they switched sides during the elections. The party, however, saw a total of 23 candidates and 12 lawmakers coming to its fold from other parties in the past seven years.