111 MPs and MLAs changed parties in four years, Nagaland at the forefront!

111 sitting MPs and MLAs have changed political parties in the last four years after winning elections in Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha and state assemblies. The biggest change took place in Nagaland, where the highest number of cases of political party switching was recorded at 32. After this, 20 cases were registered in West Bengal. This claim has been made in the report of the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) released for the period 2022 to 2026.

ADR, along with National Election Watch, has analyzed the affidavits of 111 sitting MPs and MLAs who changed political parties after being elected to the Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha and state assemblies. According to the report, 26 Lok Sabha members, 7 Rajya Sabha members and 78 Assembly members changed political parties in the last four years.

According to state-wise reports, 32 assembly members in Nagaland have switched parties after winning the elections. After this, 20 MPs in West Bengal have joined the other party.

9 MLAs in Telangana, 8 in Goa, 2 in Punjab, 6 in Meghalaya, 5 in Manipur, 4 in Arunachal Pradesh, 4 in Gujarat, 2 each in Himachal Pradesh and Rajasthan, while one MLA each in Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Sikkim and Uttar Pradesh have changed parties. At the same time, one member of Rajya Sabha in Delhi and 6 members of Lok Sabha in Maharashtra have joined other parties after the victory.

The highest number of cases of political defection were reported among elected representatives originally from the NDPP, numbering 25. After this, 20 representatives of AITC (Trinamool Congress) and 19 representatives of Congress changed political parties.

9 representatives of BRS changed parties, while 7 representatives each of Aam Aadmi Party and NCP changed political parties. Six MPs from Shiv Sena-UBT also joined the other party. After this, 5 representatives of JDU and 4 representatives of NPP changed political parties.

The ADR report said that out of the 111 MPs and MLAs who switched parties, 58 percent i.e. a total of 64 representatives were from NDPP, Trinamool Congress and Congress. The report also mentions that the recent fall of governments in some state assemblies was due to defection of their MLAs.

According to ADR data, NPF (Naga People's Front) had the highest number of 32 delegates. After this, 29 MPs and MLAs joined BJP. 20 representatives from NCPI, 9 from Congress and 8 from Shiv Sena participated. NPP and PPA had 6 and 4 representatives respectively.